Bringing the ends of the wealth spectrum together….

Clint Borgen, working the halls of Congress....

On Thursday night, islander Peter Corning made a presentation at Griffin Bay Bookstore in support of his new, internationally distributed & acclaimed book, The Fair Society, in which he talks about his sense that people, at bottom, DO try to share & work together to make things more equitable in the world. A major point, however, is that in the US, some 20% of folks control 84% of the wealth, and the remaining 80% get to scrabble over the 16% that’s left. Similar figures – often more imbalanced – measure the distribution of resources in the world, leading to widespread poverty.

This Tuesday, we get a chance to continue that conversation with a visit to the island of Anacortes native Clint Borgen, who heads an international organization called the Borgen Project, which is working the political end of things to begin the process of shifting those percentages as a key part of fighting world poverty. His presentation is set for Tuesday, March 29th at 7:00pm in the Meeting Room at the Library.

This was set up by FHHS grad (’07) and UW student & Project intern Brock McNairy. When I spoke with Clint about coming to the island, he said it’s a great chance to connect with folks on the other side of Anacortes – he’s usually headed east. The Project has grown in leaps & bounds since it was begun in ’03, and currently is supporting legislation in Congress to increase poverty-focused aid, protect children from trafficking & exploitation, and work to ensure (and often, begin) protections for women from human rights violations.

Tall order? I was struck while visiting with Clint that he’s bringing intelligence & passion to a job that can be done, with the right leverage applied. This is a presentation you won’t want to miss.

Based in Seattle and founded in 2003, the Borgen Project works to reduce global poverty through education, advocacy, and mobilization. Find out how one man with a laptop created a national, web-based campaign fight global poverty. To learn more about global poverty and what the Borgen Project is doing to help, visit www.borgenproject.org. A question and answer session will follow Clint’s presentation.

Supporters for the Project cover a wide range of ages....

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