North Carolina Community Action Association Announces Cash, Prizes for "Every Child Is a Winner" Youth Essay Contest to Help end Poverty

RALEIGH, N.C., May 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Youth ages 6 to 18 years old are invited to enter the "Every Child is a Winner," Face to Face With Poverty essay contest. Essays should answer the question: "How Can I Help End Poverty?" Cash prizes for top essays will be awarded, and there is no fee to enter. Essay entries ranging from 50 to 300 words (depending upon age) will be accepted May 1-31, 2012. Winners will be announced June 29, 2012. Every child who submits an essay will win a "Face to Face With Poverty" T-shirt or button, while supplies last.

Sharon Goodson, executive director of the North Carolina Community Action Association, said, "Poverty is everybody's business, and that means children too. Every child is a winner, and we want to reinforce that message through this contest." According to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, North Carolina's poverty rate spiked to 17.5 percent, surpassing the official national poverty level of 15.2 percent, ranking North Carolina as the 12th highest poverty state in the nation. In North Carolina, more than 1.6 million children, elderly, disabled and low-income individuals are impacted by poverty. In North Carolina, one in four children lives in poverty. Goodson said, "Twenty-five percent of children in this state live in poverty, which means they have a unique perspective on that experience. We want to give them a voice and include them in the process of finding solutions to eradicate poverty."

Face to Face With Poverty is a yearlong campaign to educate and inform community leaders and policy makers about the disproportionately high impact of poverty throughout North Carolina. The North Carolina Community Action Association is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that gives voice to the needs, concerns and stories of the state's disadvantaged and low-income citizens.

For complete contest rules and details, visit http://www.nccaa.net/Youth-Essay-Contest.aspx; contestants can "like" NCCAA on Facebook at facebook.com/NCCommAction or follow updates on Twitter at twitter.com/NCCommAction.

SOURCE North Carolina Community Action Association