Northpointe Christian School first to accept "Living on $2 a Day Challenge" | Community Spirit

Grand Rapids-based Bethany Christian Services, the nation’s premier family preservation agency, today announced that NorthPointe Christian School is the first area school to accept the “Living on $2 a Day Challenge” in support of the One Family campaign.  NorthPointe is challenging other area schools to also participate.

The One Family campaign partners a U.S. city with a city abroad to provide critical support to communities in need around the world in the development of sustainable family preservation services  to ensure that children who have lost one or both parents to war, AIDS, disease, abandonment, poverty, or natural disaster receive the love and nurturing they require. 

Grand Rapids is paired with Chichicastenango (Chichi) in Guatemala, a poverty-stricken city where most families struggle to live on $2 per day. Through One Family, Bethany is hoping to change lives in Chichi by providing nutritious food, improved shelter, and assistance with school fees to break the cycle of poverty.

To raise awareness of the extreme poverty in Chichi, Bethany introduced the “Living on $2 a Day Challenge” to area schools. The challenge asks that students – and their families – live on $2 per day for the weeks of October 7 and 14.

“The objective of the ‘Living on $2 a Day Challenge’ is to provide students across the area with first-hand experience to the struggles children and families in Chichi face every day,” said Bill Blacquiere, president of Bethany Christian Services. “Our hope is that NorthPointe is the first of many schools in the area to take up this challenge in support of our mission to strengthen family preservation in Guatemala.”

As the challenge is designed to raise funds to help Chichi families, those participating in the challenge are asked to donate $2 to the One Family campaign. Each classroom that participates in the challenge will be entered to win a pizza party from Craig’s Cruisers and a visit from WOOD-TV’s Maranda.

Schools interested in joining the “Living on $2 a Day Challenge” can contact Kelly Wiarda at 616-710-5111 for more information.

For more information on the One Family campaign, please visit www.bethanyonefamily.org  or call 1-888-242-8332.