Happy tax day! For those of us in the US who didn’t opt to file for an extension, congratulations on submitting your tax return on time!
In 2014, the average tax refund was $3,034, and the IRS predicts even bigger refunds this year. Haven’t yet decided what to do with your windfall from Uncle Sam? Here’s what $3,034 can buy for some of the world’s poorest people:
- Micronutrient food fortification for 11,669 people for a year
- One year of medication to protect 3,792 children from debilitating and often fatal parasitic worms
- 1,011 anti-malarial bed nets, which each protect up to two people for four years
- One year of clean water for 3,371 people
- 158 eye care screenings to save or improve sight for those with failing vision
- 60 cataract surgeries to restore sight for people living with preventable blindness
- High quality healthcare for 121 patients in rural Nepal
- A year of school meals for 86 children in the developing world
- 30 toilets for families displaced by natural disaster and conflict
- 5 fistula repair surgeries for women suffering from the painful effects of difficult childbirth
Curious to learn more about what you could buy with your tax refund? Check out The Life You Can Save’s interactive Impact Calculator to see how you can use your tax rebate to help the global poor.
