Rich Halvorson has proven fasting for one meal can change a person’s life.

Halvorson’s non-profit organization, Global Fast, allows contributors to choose a charity and then follow their donation by receiving updated pictures and progress reports as well as quantitatively describing the individual impact of their donation. That way, contributors know exactly where and how their donations are used.

Global Fast also chooses only to support the most efficient charities, such as Food for the Poor and Hope International.

The organization is partnering with 30 colleges across the U.S. and launching their End the Water Crisis initiative on March 22 for World Water Day, and is aiming to have as many people fast for one meal during the day.

The money that would have been spent on the meal can then be donated to Global Fast via globalfast.org, which contributors can then track on the website.

Halvorson stood up Wednesday night and captured the minds of his listeners. Everyone had an opportunity to speak to Halvorson, some waiting up to 45 minutes.

Many pledged to do all they could to assist the organization, including Jordan Ridge, a sophomore in history.

“We have to think globally. Try and give up the little things in life that we take for granted,” Ridge said. “There are people in the world who are starving and dying just because they don’t have enough to eat.”

Halvorson said the inspiration behind the organization stemmed from his extensive education, both in and out of the classroom.

“I had written my thesis on global poverty, I had lived in South America and I had written for the Miami Herald. I taught at an inner city school. All these crazy things just happened,” Halvorson said. “One day I was fasting and it all came together and I thought if you had millions of people fasting together they could literally change the world.”

While some might argue there is still much to be done here at home, Tiffany Foggie, a freshman majoring in communication, said she believes in Global Fast’s international involvement.

“It’s very touching when the people that need our help didn’t do anything to be in the position that they’re in,” Foggie said.

 However, Global Fast also provides an opportunity to connect with charities both internationally and domestically.

To Courtland Matthews, a junior in international studies, the opportunity for people to easily save lives all over the world is just too grand to ignore.

“It’s just the little things you do or give up in your life that can make a huge difference to someone on the other side of the world,” said Matthews.

Halvorson said he is committed to changing the world through the implementation of Global Fast’s various initiatives.

“My hope is,” Halvorson said, “in the next ten years charities will become more transparent, more efficient. They’ll be forced to be more sustainable and we want to be on the leading edge—we hope to see tens of thousands of people fasting together to change the world and end global poverty in our lifetime.”

According to Halvorson, Global Fast is a combination of his hopes, visions, and experiences.

“Our first one-day fast, one of the main projects was a fishing project in Haiti. A few thousand people here fasted one day and it funded these boats that feed a thousand people every day,” Halvorson said. “I went down there and this one guy, grown man, didn’t speak a word of English, but had this strong Haitian Creole accent and he was trying to say I love you. The whole village was thanking us, saying ‘you didn’t do this for us you did this for our kids.'”