Tuesday, December 1 - World AIDS Day

Hey everyone - be sure to check the blog tomorrow to find out how you can win a signed copy of Take Your Best Shot!

Happy Thanksgiving From Austin

I love Thanksgiving a lot. I enjoy everything about it. Most importantly I always think about family. And how lucky we are to live in the greatest country in the world. But, while we are so thankful we have to make sure we remember that there are others who don’t have as much.

Today, I was on the World Vision website and I one of the things I noticed was that you could pick any child you wanted. You could go down to the gender, country, even birthday. At first I thought that it was pretty cool that you could do that. But, the truth is that it's very sad. You see there are so many children out there that need to be helped.

I think that when it comes to being thankful it's also a call to action. In the Bible it says, to whom much is given much is required. So as we enter this great season of giving I would also encourage you to give to the least of these. Always keep in mind that we can change the world, one step at a time.

-austin

Happy Thanksgiving

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving from the Hoops of Hope team. We are so thankful for each one of you. Thank you for your support, volunteer hours and passion to help those less fortunate.

Blessings,

The HOH Team

Chilala Clinic Photos

We just received some updated photos from the clinic we're building with World Vision in Chilala, Zambia. The clinic will open in the Spring 2010 and will have a CD4 count machine, will provide treatment and counseling on HIV/AIDS, TB and other diseases for the community. Additionally, there will be staff housing on site.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this project!

Austin talking about All Stars Tour

New video from NBC in Philadelphia where Austin talks about the upcoming All Stars Tour in 2010! Be sure to click on the All Stars button to register!

If the World Were a Village of 100 People

Have you ever tried to wrap your mind around some of the statistics about the world that come your way? I do, and it’s quite difficult to comprehend. In my Social Work class, we received a handout showing statistics about various things as if the world consisted of 1000 people. This helped me to gain more of an understanding of some of the realities. I found a video that shows statistics if the world consisted of only 100 people. I thought I’d share it with you. It's very eye opening and shows how much of the world struggles with just having basic needs. The good news is, we can hopefully lower some of these statistics by doing our part in making a difference for the world.

::If the world were a village of 100 people::

43 (nearly half) live without basic sanitation
18 live without an improved water source
6 people own 59% of the entire wealth of the community
13 are hungry or malnourished
14 can’t read
7 are educated at a secondary level
1 adult has HIV/AIDS
18 struggle to live on $1 per day or less
53 struggle to live on $2 per day or less
If you have a roof over your head with a bed, closet, and fridge, you are richer than 75% of the entire world population

Tara