Here’s a unique opportunity to help one of Care2’s deserving nonprofit partners get up to $1.5 million to combat hunger.  The International Medical Corps (IMC) is a fantastic organization that is among the five finalists in the American Express Members Project contest.

Your vote needed: The project that receives the most votes by Oct 13th will win $1.5 million. Second place gets $500,000, third receives $300,000 and the remaining two will each receive $100,000.    IMC has already done incredibly well to make it to this final round (over 87,000 votes were cast to determine the five finalists), and it’s great to know they’ll receive at least $100,000, but I’d love to see them put the full $1.5 million to fight malnutrition around the world.

I know many of you have already voted in the contest, but this final round starts with a clean slate – so if you have an American Express card, please vote today!   The project was submitted by Paige Strackman, of NY, and is called “Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children”.  IMC is the organization that will be doing the work around the world.  If you don’t have an American Express card, you can still help by spreading the word to those you know who do have a card.

Here’s some more information about the project from the IMC and Paige: 

“While my children go to bed with full stomachs each night, it is deeply troubling to consider that 5 million children younger than five die each year because they do not have the nutrients their little bodies need to survive,” says Paige Strackman, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who submitted the project to American Express.  “We can solve this problem with nutrient-rich, ready-to-eat food.  The number of votes during this round determines how many lives will be saved.  Every vote makes a difference.”

Hunger and malnutrition kill more people in the world than HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. As food prices rise, millions are being driven deeper into poverty everyday while trying to afford basic staples.  Many are at risk of having nothing to eat at all.    

“International Medical Corps is deeply grateful for the opportunity to work with Paige on a project that she feels so passionately about,” said Rebecca Milner, Vice President of Institutional Advancement.  “We also thank all those who rallied behind this cause to support our life-saving work.  Their continued support is going to be critical as we vie for the top Members Project prize.”

Through nutrition programs that provide relief while creating sustainable solutions, International Medical Corps brings nutrition-rich, ready-to-eat food to some of world’s most food-insecure environments, including Ethiopia, Somalia, Chad, and Sudan.  With a mission that focuses on training, International Medical Corps works to empower individuals and communities, providing education on how to treat malnutrition, identify warnings signs, and intervene before malnutrition worsens.

It takes just a minute or two to vote.  Thank you!