U.S. Fund for UNICEF volunteers Live Below the Line

Rachael Swanson is the Director for Volunteer and Community Partnerships with the  U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

Last month, from May 7-11, over 1,000 U.S. Fund for UNICEF volunteers participated in Live Below the Line, a project implemented by the Global Poverty Project. Volunteers were encouraged to live in solidarity with the 1.4 billion people (25% of the world’s population) surviving in extreme poverty, by living off of just $1.50 per day for food for five days.  

UNICEF Volunteers of all ages took part in this “…movement of passionate people willing and able to make a meaningful difference to those who need it most.” Collectively, UNICEF supporters fundraised over $29,000, which will go directly to supporting UNICEF’s relief efforts in the Sahel.

One of the most successful fundraising teams within Live Below the Line was the UNICEF Campus Initiative Alumni Association. The UNICEF Campus Initiative Alumni Association, founded in 2010 to unite UNICEF Campus alumni in their commitment to the world’s children, selected Live Below the Line as their first fundraising effort. Dominique Figueroa, a UNICEF Campus Initiative Alumni, says, “I sent an email to my friends explaining my effort  and soliciting their support. One person even found the challenge intriguing enough to join me! I found my colleagues’ shared enthusiasm for the cause encouraging, as we rallied together to donate funds.” 

Limited quantities of pasta, beans, rice and oatmeal dominated Alumni Association members’ nutritional intake for most of the week. However, their commitment to this cause allowed them to bring the topic of extreme poverty to tables all across the country.  Ariana Hoet, a UNICEF Campus Initiative Alumni, highlights, “As a graduate student, I’m always living ‘under a budget’ and ‘watching what I spend’… Today I realized that is not completely true.”

With great perseverance and dedication, the UNICEF Campus Initiative Alumni Association raised over $4,000, eight times their goal, landing them on the Live Below the Line leadership board as the 4th highest participating team across the United States.

The U.S. Fund for UNICEF would like to thank all Live Below the Line volunteers for their efforts and dedication to the world’s children. Your support is critical—the funds raised will provide emergency relief supplies to assist in the survival of children affected by a catastrophic food crisis in the Sahel.

To read more about the experiences of some of our volunteers, please see the blog links below.

https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/grizforunicef
https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/arianahoet

To support UNICEF’s relief efforts in the Sahel region, please visit www.unicefusa.org/sahel.