Last Christmas we teamed up with about 40 other big podcasts to support our dear friends at Give Directly with a very special campaign called Pods Fight Poverty.

The goal was to raise $1 million to send to families in extreme poverty in Bwakira, Rwanda. Today, I want to share some of those results with you, and some of those stories from the folks you helped.

But first, a reminder, some context in Bwakira, most people are farmers, but they don't own large enough plots to grow enough food, and many struggle to eat more than one meal a day.

Water supply is inconsistent. People often rely on nearby natural streams to collect water when their wells are dry, and there are very few jobs for young people. Families don't have the capital to start small businesses to create their own jobs.

Here's the good news. 500-plus rigorous academic studies show how effective cash can be for local economies, for infant mortality, food security, and more. And that's at least in part because when you give cash directly to people in poverty, it means they can choose how best to improve their own lives. You're also giving them dignity and flexibility.

So how did our big campaign go? Well, you and me and the 40 other pods we worked with raised $386,000, reaching 250 families in need. Pretty incredible stuff. I'm extremely grateful to all of you.

Families told us they spent the cash on urgently needed livestock, household items, food, housing, land, education, healthcare, and more.

Listen for some of their firsthand stories about how much your generosity affected their lives directly. You did this, and you can keep doing this.

Consider setting up a new monthly donation at givedirectly.org.

Let's go hear from those families.

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