In 2007, the American Buddhist scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi called attention to the narrowly inward focus of American Buddhism, which has been pursued to the neglect of the active dimension of Buddhist compassion expressed through programs of social engagement. After a few rounds of discussions with his students, Bodhi resolved to form a Buddhist relief organization dedicated to alleviating the suffering of the poor and disadvantaged in the developing world.

"Among other attractions to BGR, including its strict non-proselytizing policy, we were struck by the parallel between their founding story and ours," said Dale McGowan, executive director of Foundation Beyond Belief. "We created FBB in part to pull humanism out of its tight focus on science and rational inquiry, to put the powerful compassion that is such a natural fit for the humanist worldview to work in the service of a better world. Buddhist Global Relief was likewise born out of a desire to see that worldview translated into action."

"It's hard to imagine a better way to challenge the gap between religious and nonreligious people than to support a religiously-based organization acting on the same impulse that we are."

The mission of Buddhist Global Relief (BGR) is to provide relief to the poor and needy throughout the world regardless of nationality, ethnicity, gender, or religion. Bearing in mind the Buddha's statements that "hunger is the worst kind of illness" and "the gift of food is the gift of life," BGR especially focuses on providing food aid to those afflicted by hunger and lack of food security. Its long-range goal, however, is to combat all the manifestations of poverty that detract from the inherent dignity of human life.  

Our first Challenge the Gap beneficiary is an innovative organization working to improve dialogue and understanding between people of different worldviews. 

The Interfaith Youth Core builds mutual respect and pluralism among young people from different religious traditions by empowering them to work together to serve others.

There are millions of religious young people in the world interacting with greater frequency. That interaction tends either toward conflict or cooperation. Where so many of these interactions tend towards conflict, the Interfaith Youth Core aims to introduce a new relationship, one that is about mutual respect and religious pluralism. Instead of focusing a dialogue on political or theological differences, we build relationships on the values that we share, such as hospitality and caring for the Earth, and how we can live out those values together to contribute to the betterment of our community.