Wall Street Journal Proclaims Berber Star of CGI 

Earlier today in New York, A Glimmer of Hope chairman Philip Berber made a big splash at the Clinton Global Initiative when he was one of just three members to offer a progress report during the Economic Empowerment Session emceed by James Carville.

Around the same time as Carville was lauding A Glimmer of Hope for exemplifying the CGI's mandate to turn ideas into action, this article ran in the online edition of the Wall Street Journal:

http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2009/09/23/the-real-star-at-the-clinton-global-initiative/

"This was a fantastic opportunity for A Glimmer of Hope to showcase the impact of the work we are doing in Ethiopia - particularly in the area of microfinance," Philip said. "And, we are grateful to be a part of the Clinton Global Initiative."

More than 125 CGI members attended the session which gave Philip an opportunity to talk about the success of A Glimmer of Hope's two completed microfinance commitments and announce A Glimmer of Hope's plans for a third more ambitious one to be implemented during the next year.

CGI's membership comprises over 1,000 of the most influential people in the world. This year's CGI was officially opened by US President Barack Obama on Tuesday.

A Glimmer of Hope's first two commitments provided a total $2.25 million in microloans to more than 6,000 borrowers engaged in agriculture and small businesses in Ethiopia; 75% of those loans went to female borrowers. Both were achieved ahead of schedule thanks to the support of people like the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and Whole Planet Foundation (a Whole Foods Market foundation).

Click here to make a contribution to A Glimmer of Hope's 2009 CGI commitment

Loans as small as $160 can completely alter the course of life for an entire Ethiopian family.

Make your birthday really matter …

Last year, more than 750 people around the world gave up their birthdays to support charity: water's innovative September Campaign.

The campaign raised $965,000 in just over a month - almost all of it online - and provided safe water to more than 50,000 rural Ethiopians.

It was a remarkable effort. A Glimmer of Hope played a vital role as the organization that would implement all of the water projects funded by the campaign.

This year, A Glimmer of Hope will once again be a part of the September Campaign which promises to be even bigger and better than last year's.

To reach its goal this year, charity: water is asking all you September babies to use your birthdays again, but they're not stopping there.

Even if you're not born in September, you can run, swim, skydive - do anything you want - to bring clean drinking water to people in need. Visit mycharitywater.org/glimmer to join our partnership campaign or start your own campaign today.

As always, 100% of donations will go directly to fund water projects, and you'll then be able to see every project on Google Earth when they're completed.