To: Presidential Candidates As members of the Alliance of Students Against Poverty, interested citizens, and concerned members of the human family, we join our signatures and raise our voices to say that extreme poverty must be abolished; in our world of plenty, no human being should die because of poverty. However, over 1.2 billion people, or one sixth of humanity, live in extreme poverty--the most severe state of poverty in which people cannot meet their basic needs for survival. A staggering 10 million children die every year from preventable and treatable diseases. And even in a nation as prosperous as the United States, more than 3 million people experience homelessness each year, including 1.3 million children. This must end! We believe that we must work together to abolish extreme poverty and that we must do it now. We believe the tools exist. We believe in you! As the chosen U.S. presidential candidates at this critical time in our global history, we believe that you will fight for those who need our support and that you can change the course of our future. We invite you to meet us on September 21, 2008 at 10am in Washington, DC for a town hall meeting with students from around the nation as we culminate our \"Step for Change\" march during our annual student conference. There we invite you to speak to us and to the world about your commitment to abolish extreme poverty and your vision for the future. Sincerely, The Undersigned,