Soroptimist Fundraiser Speech - October 22nd, 2006.
Thank you.
I appreciate you coming out tonight, to help us fight the good fight.
I thank Trish and Marge and the Soroptimist team, for making this great evening occur.
And a big thanks to the individuals and businesses who donated the great auction items.
Just a friendly reminder, there’s a time and place for bargain shopping and this is not one of them…
Enough said.
So no question am I asked more often these days, then what got me interested in the issue of poverty.
The interest was officially sparked a couple of years after graduating from Anacortes High School, when I
hopped a plane to go work in the Kosovo refugee camps during the war and ethnic cleansing.
Kosovo was then a region where 10,000 innocent people had been systematically killed and another
900,000 driven from their homes.
For a young American, life in the refugee camps was very much an eye opener.
There is a predictable transformation that occurs for every U.S. citizen who steps foot in a humanitarian
disaster, and my experience there was no different.
It’s deeply empowering to realize how little effort is needed from our leaders, to improve the lives of
millions of people. But it’s deeply disappointing to realize, how little is typically done.
The Borgen Project was formed to change that.
We’re an organization with a belief, and that belief is that in 2006… three decades after we put a man on
the moon… 28,000 kids should not be dieing each day because of poverty.
We are an organization that was designed and engineered with a very specific purpose and that purpose is
to make sure the leaders of the most powerful nation on earth, are doing right by the world’s poor.
Interestingly enough, experts have known since the 1970’s that if the political commitment is there, hunger
can be abolished within one generation.
In September of 2000, that knowledge turned to action, when the largest gathering of world leaders ever
assembled, met at a summit in New York City and agreed to a plan and time frame for doing just that.
Known as the Millennium Development Goals, the plan to end hunger globally has been agreed to by
every nation on earth, including the United States and this beautiful world, is within striking distance of
achieving the once impossible dream of freeing every man, woman and child from death by hunger.
Victory is all around us. Over the past 20 years the number of people who are chronically hungry has
been reduced by 50 percent.
The strategies for addressing poverty these days are incredibly effective. And things are really simple,
where there’s a commitment, there is a success… And the Borgen Project is working to orchestrate the
political commitment needed to achieve the Millennium Goals.
We’re a young organization, but we’re a strong organization. In a world of big tobacco, big oil and a lot
of other big lobbies, political leaders don’t typically have a lot of incentive to talk to poverty
organizations… But they’re talking to the Borgen Project.
From the office of the most powerful U.S. Senator, to the office of the most powerful U.S. Congressman,
this is an organization that is already operating on the inside and has the ear of those with the power to
drastically reduce global poverty.
What not that many people realize, is that Anacortes is playing a big role in all of this.
The Borgen Project is the organization that is working to bring U.S. leadership to addressing severe
poverty and achieving the Millennium Goals. And the people here in my hometown, have been wonderful
supporters of this critical cause.
A little known fact about this city, is per square inch, Anacortes has more Borgen Project donors than any
city on the planet.
Naturally, this tends to make me think that Anacortes is the greatest place ever… And that possibly city
limits should be extended a couple thousands miles.
It’s neat to see. It really is. There’s that old saying that it takes a village, and Anacortes is a wonderful
village.
Thank you for coming out tonight.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I appreciate you coming out tonight, to help us fight the good fight.
I thank Trish and Marge and the Soroptimist team, for making this great evening occur.
And a big thanks to the individuals and businesses who donated the great auction items.
Just a friendly reminder, there’s a time and place for bargain shopping and this is not one of them…
Enough said.
So no question am I asked more often these days, then what got me interested in the issue of poverty.
The interest was officially sparked a couple of years after graduating from Anacortes High School, when I
hopped a plane to go work in the Kosovo refugee camps during the war and ethnic cleansing.
Kosovo was then a region where 10,000 innocent people had been systematically killed and another
900,000 driven from their homes.
For a young American, life in the refugee camps was very much an eye opener.
There is a predictable transformation that occurs for every U.S. citizen who steps foot in a humanitarian
disaster, and my experience there was no different.
It’s deeply empowering to realize how little effort is needed from our leaders, to improve the lives of
millions of people. But it’s deeply disappointing to realize, how little is typically done.
The Borgen Project was formed to change that.
We’re an organization with a belief, and that belief is that in 2006… three decades after we put a man on
the moon… 28,000 kids should not be dieing each day because of poverty.
We are an organization that was designed and engineered with a very specific purpose and that purpose is
to make sure the leaders of the most powerful nation on earth, are doing right by the world’s poor.
Interestingly enough, experts have known since the 1970’s that if the political commitment is there, hunger
can be abolished within one generation.
In September of 2000, that knowledge turned to action, when the largest gathering of world leaders ever
assembled, met at a summit in New York City and agreed to a plan and time frame for doing just that.
Known as the Millennium Development Goals, the plan to end hunger globally has been agreed to by
every nation on earth, including the United States and this beautiful world, is within striking distance of
achieving the once impossible dream of freeing every man, woman and child from death by hunger.
Victory is all around us. Over the past 20 years the number of people who are chronically hungry has
been reduced by 50 percent.
The strategies for addressing poverty these days are incredibly effective. And things are really simple,
where there’s a commitment, there is a success… And the Borgen Project is working to orchestrate the
political commitment needed to achieve the Millennium Goals.
We’re a young organization, but we’re a strong organization. In a world of big tobacco, big oil and a lot
of other big lobbies, political leaders don’t typically have a lot of incentive to talk to poverty
organizations… But they’re talking to the Borgen Project.
From the office of the most powerful U.S. Senator, to the office of the most powerful U.S. Congressman,
this is an organization that is already operating on the inside and has the ear of those with the power to
drastically reduce global poverty.
What not that many people realize, is that Anacortes is playing a big role in all of this.
The Borgen Project is the organization that is working to bring U.S. leadership to addressing severe
poverty and achieving the Millennium Goals. And the people here in my hometown, have been wonderful
supporters of this critical cause.
A little known fact about this city, is per square inch, Anacortes has more Borgen Project donors than any
city on the planet.
Naturally, this tends to make me think that Anacortes is the greatest place ever… And that possibly city
limits should be extended a couple thousands miles.
It’s neat to see. It really is. There’s that old saying that it takes a village, and Anacortes is a wonderful
village.
Thank you for coming out tonight.
Thank you.
