I love all kinds of causes that use new media. There’s something about organizations that understand how to truly leverage social potential with the community that fascinates me.

One campaign in particular has caught my attention- Oxfam American Hunger Banquet. Now, I’ll admit it. I love helping out with organizations, but when we’re all so busy, often times it’s easy to forget or say you’ll do it later. Yes, I’m guilty of this. But one of the great things about this Oxfam organization is that they’re completely mobilizing participants and providing them with EVERYTHING that they need to make this successful.

A centralized social hub.

Toolkits.

Step by step event plans.

A script to follow.

Online calendars to find banquets near you.

Notifications.

EVERYTHING.

They don’t just give you information and throw you out there to fundraise and send in money to “donate to the poor for food.” No. They educate you- they teach you what we’re doing wrong, and give you every opportunity in the world to help.

Pretty much, you have no excuse to ignore this. World hunger is a serious problem- and it’s not because there’s a lack of resources. We have plenty- don’t be fooled. The problem is that we’re not allocating our resources efficiently… but we’re all guilty of that too, aren’t we?

The power of people when they’re banded and united for one cause is pretty amazing- people are competitive by nature, and leveraging that competitiveness and sense of unity at the same time makes for a moving and powerful campaign.

One more awesome thing (which I can’t show you on here because it’s written in Javascript- the embedded video is just the regular version) is that the video on the Oxfam homepage allows you to sign up and participate from right within the video. Perfect. Everything is literally right at your finger tips.

So what are you eating for Thanksgiving? How much food are you wasting? I suggest you look into hosting a hunger banquet. You’ll not only feel good about yourself, but you’re also making a difference- and every person counts.

I am done on my soap box now. Good day.