Buddhist Global Relief is an organization of
socially engaged Buddhists with a mission to "combat chronic hunger and malnutrition".
It was founded by
Bhikkhu Bodhi
Bhikkhu Bodhi (born December 10, 1944) () born Jeffrey Block, is an American Theravada Buddhist monk ordained in Sri Lanka. He teaches in the New York and New Jersey area. He was appointed the second president of the Buddhist Publication Soci ...
in 2008.
History
When the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2–9.3 struck with an epicentre off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known in the sci ...
happened, Bhikkhu Bodhi was moved to action.
He soon raised $160,000 with many dharma friends, and when looking for charitable relief organizations, he found a dearth of Buddhist organizations.
Three years later, Bodhi wrote an article in ''
Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly'' titled "A Challenge to Buddhists", which urged American Buddhists to be more socially engaged.
Bodhi and some of his students formally established Buddhist Global Relief in June 2008, registered in New Jersey.
Programs
BGR works to create long-term solutions to poverty and hunger and to improve women's education and economic power worldwide.
BGR has partnered with
Helen Keller International to provide sufficient
micronutrients
Micronutrients are essential chemicals required by organisms in small quantities to perform various biogeochemical processes and regulate physiological functions of cells and organs. By enabling these processes, micronutrients support the heal ...
to people in Niger and Mali.
Since 2009, it has partnered with
Lotus Outreach to create "Food Scholarships for Girls to Stay in School" in
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
. BGR was one of the 40 groups that pledged to work with "Tomorrow Together", a coalition created to promote a five-year initiative to encourage unity, empathy, and service each year on 9/11, through to the
20th anniversary of 9/11 in 2021.
After the
April 2015 Nepal earthquake
The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed 8,962 people and injured 21,952 across the countries of Nepal, India, China and Bangladesh. It occurred at on Saturday 25 April 2015, with a magnitude of Moment magni ...
, BGR made an emergency donation of $10,000, which was distributed among five charities:
UNICEF
UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...
,
CARE
Care may refer to:
Organizations and projects
* CARE (New Zealand), Citizens Association for Racial Equality, a former New Zealand organisation
* CARE (England) West Midlands, Central Accident Resuscitation Emergency team, a team of doctors & ...
,
Direct Relief,
Oxfam America
Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...
, and the
International Medical Corps
International Medical Corps is a global, nonprofit, humanitarian aid organization that provides emergency medical services, healthcare training and capacity building to those affected by disaster, disease or conflict. It seeks to strengthen med ...
.
BGR was one of many organizations that attempted to aid
Syrian Refugees. As of December 2015, it had donated $12,000 to be split among six charitable causes.
In Myanmar, BGR works with Insight Myanmar to offer essential food and supplies to Buddhist monastics and people of all faiths. BGR also supports the education of 38 young women in Afghanistan through CARE.
BGR also partners with the Center for Indigenous Work (CTI) in Brazil to protect Indigenous land rights and traditional cultures, and it aids malnourished pregnant women in Sri Lanka through the Shraddha Charity Organization.
BGR collaborates with organizations like the Capital Area Food Bank to deliver over 50 million meals annually to those in need in Washington, D.C.
To raise funds for its programs, BGR holds annual "Walks to Feed the Hungry" in cities across the United States.
References
External links
Buddhist Global ReliefBGR Blog
{{Buddhism topics
Buddhist organizations based in the United States
Organizations established in 2008