Images from here and here, respectively.
 

10 Ways YOU Can Get Involved and Move Beyond the "Statistics" of Poverty to Help Provide Opportunity for All People
 

•  Philanthropy
  
  1) Donate to A Just Harvest, an organization in Rogers Park that helps combat poverty and hunger by providing nutritious meals 365 days a year to those in need.
  
  
  Image from ajustharvest.org
  
   
• Advocacy
  
  2) Sign petitions for the ONE campaign which supports the fight against extreme poverty, better development policies, effective aid and trade reform, greater democracy, among other types of policy reforms.
  
   
• Voting and Formal Political Activities
  
  3) Before voting in any election, educate yourself about the position of each candidate with regard to reducing poverty and promoting opportunity.
  
   
• Charitable Volunteerism
  
  4) Now that you know what LIFT-Chicago is all about (and that it doesn't involve lifting weights or going to a gym), sign up next semester to become a LIFT Student Advocate! Details will be provided later at Loyola's Org Fair, and you can check the Facebook page periodically for deadlines. If you're still unsure (for some reason...) about what LIFT actually is, please visit our website.
  
  Still not convinced that you should become a LIFT-Chicago advocate? Check out this video for why WE LIFT.
  
  
  And, to be even more convincing, I've put up this image from our 2012 LIFT Regional Summit with short phrases about why our advicates LIFT (photo courtesy of the LIFT-Chicago Facebook page)
  
  5) Volunteer at a PADS Shelter or homeless shelter to serve food and sleeping arrangements for the homeless who stay for a night or more. Check out more info on shelters in the area at this directory.
  
  
  Photo courtesy of the PADS of Elgin website.
  
  6) Collecting and donating food for/to poor neighborhoods on a regular basis (e.x. "Project Downtown").
  
  7) Chicago Cares has a calendar with different types of volunteer opportunities, many of which are related to helping those in poverty. Here is the calendar.
  
   
• Informal Associations
  
  8) Join us for LIFT's annual Poverty Awareness Week, a week-long series of events on campus that will facilitate discussion about and reveal the reality of poverty in Chicago and, specifically, around Loyola's campus. These events will also allow students to engage in constructive discourse to eradicate poverty and provide more opportunities within society. Details about Poverty Awareness Week (or PAW for short) are TBA, but here is the PAW Blog from last year to provide a little bit more info.
  
  
  Image courtesy of PAW Blog (see above for link)
  
   
• Community and Economic Development
  
  9) Check out Northside P.O.W.E.R. (People Organized to Work, Educate, and Restore), an organization founded by the board members of A Just Harvest (see above) with the intention of moving beyond the solely charitable work of feeding the hungry and toward examining the causes for this hunger.
  
   
• Socially Responsible Behavior
  
  10) If you hear your peers ascribing to the stereotypes of poverty, such as "all poor people are lazy," speak out. Every individual has his or own unique situation and should not be generalized.

See? You don't even have to be directly affiliated with LIFT to reduce the effects of poverty; there is NO excuse not to be involved in your community! If you still have doubts, please email me at cmackendrick@luc.edu and I would be happy to further inform you about such opportunities.

 

NOTE: Some information about opportunities to "get involved" inspired by the UNIV 290 Social Wheel Wiki.