This multi-authored Berrett Koehler 2007 publication was inspired by Jeffrey Keenan whose dream it was to create a book filled with practical actions people could take so that poverty will become history—here in the U.S. and around the world.
Shannon Daley-Harris, the chief author, joined Jeffrey and me together with Joy Anderson and Jackie VanderBrug of Criterion Ventures who put the authoring team together and continue to assist with the public relations and marketing of the book. The story of how it came to be written can be found at
Criterion Ventures, a company that incubates and scales social ventures that make for a better world. Net royalties from the book are being donated to non-profit organizations mentioned in the book.
In 235 pages, Our Day tells stories and details dozens of simple, often fun practical actions to help eliminate poverty. Using a typical 24 hour day as a framework, the book offers over 400 actions organized in each of the 24 chapters by “learn,” “contribute,” “serve” and “live”—that is to make life-altering changes. End resources offer questions for group discussions in addition to guides for schools, workplaces and places of worship.
In 2000 leaders from around the world gathered at the U.N. Millennium Summit and drew up eight goals outlining a broad vision to establish specific, time-bound, measurable targets to guide and assess our progress toward eliminating poverty. Each of the 24 chapters amplifies one or more of the millennium goals.
Maria Wright Edelman, President, Children’s Defense Fund, says of the book: “As we go about our busy daily lives, Our Day to End Poverty challenges readers to see just how many ways we can find to make a difference…this valuable resource reminds us how small steps can add up to help solve some of the world’s most difficult problems.”
Speaking to us from the 4th century, St. Basil the Great wrote:
The bread which you do not use is the bread of the hungry,
The garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of one who is naked.
The shoes that you do not wear are the shoes of one who is barefoot.
The money you keep locked away is the money of the poor.
The acts of charity you do not perform, are so many injustices you commit.
Envision the world you wish to see in 2015 or sooner. See fields abundant with harvest. Taste the rice or cornmeal and the tortillas cooked by micro-entrepreneurs now able to provide for their families. Hear the splash of plentiful, clean water. Smell the rich aroma of coffee produced by workers paid a fair wage. Touch the sturdy walls of a house filled with healthy women and children. Breathe fresh, unpolluted air. Imagine a tomorrow we can create together in a moral universe, as described by Martin Luther King, Jr., with an arc long, but bending toward justice.
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