This week on Full Frame: Ending global poverty

Full Frame

May Lee and Eugene ChoOne Day’s Wages Founder Eugene Cho talks about his movement to end extreme global poverty.

For decades, individuals, groups, even governments have worked to end hunger around the globe.

Now, the convergence of political wills, public and private partnerships and new avenues of funding mean this ambition, for the first time in human history, is truly possible.

This week on Full Frame, we talk with those who want to see change in the world and are taking innovative and new approaches in the fight to eradicate global poverty.

Eugene Cho: Giving one day’s wages

Eugene Cho

One Day’s Wages Founder Eugene Cho challenges people to donate a day’s pay to end extreme global poverty.

The World Bank estimates, in 2012, more than 12% of the world’s population lived in “extreme global poverty,” meaning they lived on less than $1.90 a day. But there is hope this percentage will drop to zero within a generation.

Eugene Cho is leading a grassroots movement to help tackle this global problem while also supporting sustainable development and emergency relief, worldwide. He’s the founder of the nonprofit organization, One Day’s Wages. For a year, Cho and his family challenged themselves to sacrifice a year of their income to help inspire others to join the movement to end extreme global poverty. One Day’s Wages encourages others to simply donate one day of their wages to the less fortunate living in areas like Sub‐Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.

The organization has engaged in nearly 90 projects in more than 30 countries around the world and has raised more than $3.5 million in donations since 2009.

Eugene Cho joins May Lee in our Los Angeles studio to tell us more about his work to end extreme global poverty.

Jake Harriman: Fighting the war on poverty

Jake Harriman

U.S. Military veteran Jake Harriman pursues a new mission: ending extreme global poverty.

From the front lines of the war on terror to the front lines of the war on poverty, Jake Harriman is fighting the good fight.

He is a decorated U.S. military veteran who served seven-and-a-half years as a platoon commander in both the U.S. Marine Corps Infantry and a special operations unit called Force Recon. Harriman was awarded the Bronze Star for actions he took in combat during his second tour in Iraq. During his military career, Harriman realized that peace could only be achieved if the contributing causes of terrorism, disenfranchisement, lack of education and extreme poverty, were first erased.

Harriman decided to leave the military to pursue his new mission: ending extreme poverty. After leaving the Marine Corps, Jake graduated from the prestigious Stanford Graduate School of Business. He then created a non-profit group, Nuru International, to focus on ending extreme poverty in remote areas of the world. Working in Kenya and Ethiopia since 2009, Nuru International has helped more than 85,000 people lift themselves out of extreme poverty.

Jake Harriman joins May Lee in our Los Angeles studio to discuss how he’s helping fight poverty in partnership with those in need.

Michael Faye: Giving directly

Michael Faye

GiveDirectly Co-Founder Michael Faye talks about donating funds directly to those in need.

Imagine giving cash to someone in need, with no strings attached. They could do use it however they chose. It may sound odd, but that’s exactly what GiveDirectly, a top‐ranked international charity, does.

Michael Faye is the co‐founder and executive chairman of GiveDirectly. The organization advocates for direct giving to people with the most need. Its research-based model essentially eliminates the middleman by quickly and efficiently transferring funds from donors right into the hands of those who need it most.

From New York, Michael Faye joins May Lee in our Los Angeles studio to discuss how the organization is changing charity as we know it.

Jail petting zoo: Inmates save exotic animals

Jail petting zoo

Inmate Seth Beckman helps take care of animals at a Florida jail’s petting zoo.

In 1994, a Florida prison started a small zoo with a group of homeless ducks. Eventually people began dropping off unwanted pets. Several years later, the zoo was nearly shut down after being cited with violations. All of that changed when one woman stepped in to save the animals, and the inmates who care for them.

Ten years later, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Children’s Animal Park now has 150 animals, including some exotic species. As Full Frame Contributor Jim Spellman explains, it’s a thriving program that’s good for the community, good for the animals, and great for the inmates.

Connect with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Animal Farm on Facebook