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What is Overlooked?

Overlooked is a progression of Feed Just One.

A year and a half ago I had the desire to change the world and decided to act on it. That desire turned into an organization called Feed Just One. I chose the name from a Mother Teresa quote and partnered up with an organization called Feed My Starving Children to raise money to ship food to starving people around the world. With the help of my friends I have toured the country selling lots of shirts and exceeded my original goal.

With Overlooked I want to give you the opportunity to do the same. I have met thousands of people who want to change the world but don't know how. The problems we face daily are so daunting that it's easy to give in and think that it's impossible to make a difference. It's easy to think that we don't have enough money or time or that we aren't old enough or we're too old. Or maybe you just don't know about - or choose to overlook - all of the things that go on in the world around you.

I want you to know that you can make a difference.

No matter what your circumstances you can change someone's life. You may not ever impact thousands of lives and that's okay. You don't have to fix the entire problem to successfully change the world. Mother Teresa said, "If you can't feed a hundred people, then Feed Just One." That can be applied to anything. The number of people that you help isn't as important as the fact that you are willing to get out there and help.

My goal for overlooked is to expose you to the problems in the world around you and offer you simple ways to make a difference. I want to introduce you to different issues and the organizations that address them. Each month we will introduce a new t-shirt that tackles a different issue. When you purchase one of the shirts you are participating in informing others of the issue as well as actively supporting organizations that are making a difference. In addition to the shirts we will give you information on how to dig deeper into the issue if you choose. Maybe you will find one that you are especially passionate about and want to get more involved.

In the near future we hope to travel across the country with a band and a speaker setting up in cities from Wednesday - Sunday. We want to team up with local schools, organizations and churches and make a difference in your city. We don't want to come in one day and leave the next - we want to play an active part in getting you involved.

The truth is that there are overlooked people all around us. The truth is that we are all overlooked. We all have needs and we need each other to make us whole. One of the needs we all have is a sense of purpose. While you are helping others to have their basic needs such as food and water you are giving them love and you are giving yourself purpose.

Dallas Harris

Where does the name come from?

Our name comes from the Message translation of the Bible. It was further inspired from a passage of Max Lucado's book "Cure for the Common Life".

If you are not a Christian please don't be scared off by this. I don't consider this to be a Christian organization and I don't believe you have to be a Christian to love and help people. This is another one of the problems that keep people from making a difference. In order to truly change the world it will take all of us.

On the other hand, if you are a Christian and you aren't loving and helping people at every opportunity then you must reconsider what it means to live and love like Jesus.

This is one of my favorite quotes from Steve Brown...

"When a Christian sees someone who is physically hungry, a Christian feeds the hungry person. Why? Because hungry people can’t understand the plan of salvation? No. Simply because that person is hungry. That’s what Christians do. And if a person is spiritually hungry, a Christian becomes “one beggar telling another beggar where he or she found bread.” Why? Because that’s what Christians do."

Matthew 25:37-40 (The Message)

'When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’

From Max Lucado's Cure For The Common Life

"Love the overlooked.

Jesus sits in your classroom, wearing the thick glasses, outdated clothing, and a sad face. You've seen him. He's Jesus.

Jesus works in your office. Pregnant again, she shows up to work late and tired. No one knows the father. According to water-cooler rumors, even she doesn't know the father. You've seen her. She's Jesus.

When you talk to the lonely student, befriend the weary mom, you love Jesus. He dresses in the garb of the overlooked and ignored.

You can do that.

Even if your sweet spot has nothing to do with encouraging others, the cure for the common life involves loving the overlooked."

How You Can Be A Part

1. Stay connected. Add us on here and on Facebook. Join our email list. Send pictures. Leave comments. Write messages. Get to know us. Let us know what's important to you.

2. Help us grow. Put our banner on your page. Send bulletins and emails to your friends about us. Post blogs. Add "is overlooked" to your display name. Make signs for us. Put us in your top friends (dallas@weareoverlooked.com). Organize benefit shows. Start your own Overlooked club at your school. Do a presentation to your group about us. Bring us to your city.

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3. Buy our merch. This is our only means of income right now so it is essential that you support us if you are at all able to. We plan on registering as a non profit as soon as possible so that your future donations will be tax deductible, however, this is a process that is very expensive and could take from 6 months to a year. More importantly, when you buy and wear our merch it will raise awareness of the issues as well as directly benefit the organizations that address the issues. Depending on the specific shirt, between 25 and 50% of the profits will go to the featured organization. The rest will be used to keep us going.

4. Give of yourself. An important part of changing the world is the act of giving. I know with the economy the way it is it may seem like you don't have any extra money to give. The truth is that if you are reading this from a computer at home, work or school then you are RICH compared to 75% of the other people on this planet. This may mean giving up your daily or weekly trip to starbucks or skipping a movie in order to donate the money somewhere. It may mean giving up a couple hours of your precious spare time every week to volunteer. Giving has to cost you something in order to truly be giving. Change requires real money and real effort. Things like FreeRice.com, The Hunger Site and the ONE campaign are all great at getting people to acknowledge issues like hunger but often leave people with the feeling that if they go and click a button everyday or sign a petition then they've done their part and don't need to give anything. Did you know that you would have to play for over an hour just to provide enough rice for one meal when you could buy a meal through Feed My Starving Children for only 17 cents? Your time and money are very valuable. Use them wisely.

5. LOVE PEOPLE! This is the most important one. Take time to notice the needs of the people that are around you every day. Be there for your friends and family. Be nice to someone that you don't know. Don't just give change to a homeless person but talk to them. Visit a nursing home. Volunteer at a shelter. Do something small everyday to make someone's life better. Then come back and leave a comment telling us about it. Inspire the rest of us.

Shirt #1 - October 2008 - Food

Each shirt sold provides one person with a meal a day for 3 months through Feed My Starving Children.

Click here to purchase.

Shirt #2 - November 2008 - Water

Each shirt sold provides one person with a water purification tool called LifeStraw.

Click here to purchase.

Shirt #3 - December 2008 - Mosquito Net

Each shirt sold provides one person with a mosquito net.

Click here to purchase.

Shirt #4 - January 2009 - Human Trafficking

Two children per minute are trafficked for sexual exploitation. The purchase of this shirt aids in prevention and aftercare.

Click here to purchase.