Foreign aid facts may surprise

I have recently been working with an organization called The Borgen Project. My efforts are voluntary and my time with them has made me realize how many misconceptions there are about U.S. foreign aid.

Americans, myself included, tend to overestimate the amount of the federal budget that goes to foreign aid. Americans generally believe that 25 percent of the federal budget goes to foreign aid, and think it should be “slashed” to only 10 percent. The truth is that less than 1 percent of the federal budget goes to foreign aid.

The Borgen Project is a nonprofit organization that works within the confines of the U.S. government to advocate for the world’s poor. Members of The Borgen Project team meet with members of Congress to advocate for legislation that will help millions in impoverished nations. They work on issues dealing with global food security, food aid reform, access to clean water and sanitation and maternal and newborn health and survival.

Many more eye-opening facts about foreign aid can be found on The Borgen Project’s website at http://borgenproject.org. I hope that readers will take some time to familiarize themselves with this organization and a few facts about U.S. foreign aid.

This story was originally published December 1, 2016 at 6:36 PM with the headline "Foreign aid facts may surprise."