Haskell Indian Nations University has started a Future Without Poverty club, which will put on its first fundraiser soon, selling cotton tote bags to be used in grocery stores. Having a meeting Friday, from left, are Tweesna Rose Mills, a senior from Fort Washakie, Wyo.; Shereena Baker, junior, Fortuna, Calif.; Savannah Joe, senior, San Jose, Calif.; Margaret Stevens, senior, Oneida, Wis.; and Diane Sampson, senior, Chicago.

There are 1.6 billion people living without electricity and 1 billion people who don’t have adequate access to water.

A group of Haskell Indian Nations University students hopes to put a dent into such figures by educating others, fundraising and volunteering. They recently formed the world’s fourth Future Without Poverty club.

“I would say about 90 percent of the students on our campus come from impoverished communities and just very poor communities. So I think it is a natural instinct to give someone a lending hand,” said Savannah Joe, club president and a San Jose, Calif., senior. “We know what it’s like to be in their shoes, or we still are in that position, and it’s a matter of survival.”

Future Without Poverty began as an idea in 1995 and was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 2005 with the help of students from the University of North Texas. Since then, Northern Kentucky University and the University of Northwest Switzerland have joined along with Haskell.

Thomas Benjamin, vice president of international community development for the organization, said at least 15 other universities from around the world are in the process of forming a club.

He said Future Without Poverty’s purpose is to encourage students and faculty to make a commitment to reduce poverty in their communities and worldwide.

Benjamin said he sees poverty firsthand as executive director of the Commonwealth Community Action Partnership in Northern Virginia.

“I can show you statistics around the state of Virginia where there are thousands of homes that don’t have running water or electricity,” he said. “It’s right here. It’s right in my backyard.”

But so far, the international organization is helping poverty-stricken areas in Mexico that have no electricity or running water. When asked why help other countries when there’s poverty in the United States, Benjamin replied, “Poverty in the States is like a family of four making under $30,000 per year. Down in Mexico, it’s a family of four making under $200.

“So it allows you to appreciate how bad it could be and be thankful for what we do have. But it also says with the resources we have and what we have available here, together, we can make a difference.”

In fact, $1,000 can provide a solar electric plant for a school in Mexico and $2,500 can install a spring water system. Future Without Poverty has received hundreds of requests for both.

Haskell students are working to raise $1,000 by mid-May, when about a dozen students will travel to Zacatecas, Mexico, to help install a solar panel for a school there. They plan to sell tote bags with the club’s logo at grocery stores and other places in hopes shoppers will use them instead of plastic bags. They also plan to work at Worlds of Fun to raise money.

“I’ve never seen people this committed and excited about a project, and it’s done with such heart and compassion. It’s so selfless,” Joe said of the club’s 15 members.

Diane Sampson, a senior from Chicago, didn’t hesitate to join the club although she is involved in others.

“This organization provides that opportunity to help people not only locally but on a global level,” she said. “It’s about giving back and let’s help these other people.”