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"More and Better" Development Assistance

In a world where hundreds of millions of people suffer unnecessarily from chronic malnutrition, Bread for the World has dedicated this year’s Offering of Letters, One Spirit. One Will. Zero Poverty., to securing the additional resources needed to keep our country’s commitments to reducing global hunger. Even as both houses of Congress are in recess for the elections until mid-November, Bread for the World activists continue to urge Congress to finalize the 2007 foreign assistance spending levels. The bill should include, at a minimum, the president’s request of an additional $2 billion for poverty-focused development assistance. As we go to press, Congress is set to approve a $1 billion increase, so our efforts could help us secure an additional $1 billion for hungry and poor people.  

Along with our focus on securing increases in development assistance, Bread for the World continues to emphasize the need to create high-quality development programs that effectively reduce hunger and poverty. For example, in 2003 Bread for the World helped persuade Congress to establish the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), which gives assistance to developing countries that are committed to good governance and improving the lives of their people. Since then, we have monitored MCA programs to ensure that they remain focused on reducing poverty and incorporate the views and priorities of poor people.

Earlier this year, the State Department announced that Ambassador Randall Tobias had been appointed the first director of U.S. Foreign Assistance. Tobias will lead a new initiative to ensure the most effective use of U.S. development assistance by developing a foreign assistance strategy coordinated among the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Tobias previously served as the first U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, directing the new President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). PEPFAR has been credited with coordinating the efforts of six U.S. government agencies to make a greater impact in the fight against HIV/AIDS in poor countries. Bread for the World is deeply engaged in making the MCA an effective poverty-focused program and in urging that the proposed new coordination of foreign assistance improve its capacity to reduce poverty around the world. We will continue to work both for increased poverty-focused development assistance and for the most effective use of these funds.

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Give Bread for the World for Christmas!

Think outside the box this year to give friends and family a truly meaningful holiday gift. Your donation to Bread for the World in their honor will help us make a difference in the lives of hungry people.

The Christmas gift card features the same design as our Christmas cards with the following inside message: During this Christmas season a gift to support Bread for the World was made in your honor.

This gift card grants the recipient a one-year complimentary membership to Bread for the World which they can activate at any time.

Christmas gift cards are $25 per card.  Or, order a pack of five cards for $100 to have on hand. They make great last-minute hostess or teacher gifts during the holiday season.

Packages of 10 Christmas greeting cards and envelopes are also available for $10, with free shipping. Please place your orders by December 15, to ensure delivery in time for Christmas.  Cards can be ordered through our online store.

Mobilizing People, ONE by ONE

Bread for the World's faith outreach has been an important part of the ONE Campaign this year. As of September 2006, Bread for the World has:

• mobilized some 300,000 letters to Congress (mostly hand-written) in support of an additional 1 percent of the federal budget for poverty-focused development assistance.
  
  
• organized more than 2,500 ONE-related grassroots events—Offerings of Letters in 1,300 churches and campus groups, plus 1,200 workshops, presentations and meetings.
  
  
• engaged 1,200 activists in promoting ONE; 30,000 people were on BFW's ONE e-alert lists. Bread for the World has enlisted more than 40,000 signers of the ONE Declaration.
  
  
• helped to involve denominations and other religious bodies in ONE.
  
  
• registered some 8 million ONE-related media impressions.

When Congress and the president finalize budget decisions, Bread for the World and ONE are poised to win an increase of $1 billion to $2 billion for programs and agencies focused on poverty reduction.

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Restoration

By Sharon Watkins

"The mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.

--Amos 9:8-15

Much of Amos comes to us as condemnation and warning. Many of the prophet's words announce severe consequences for a people's misdeeds. But here at the end of the book come words of promise and new beginning. Now God, whose anger had been roused against the people, appears as one who wants to restore the people to an Eden-like existence.

Now God's heart is moved to an abundant overflowing of good things – mountains and hills drip with sweet wine, cities are rebuilt for the people to live in, vineyards and gardens produce amply for the inhabitants to eat and enjoy, the land is secured as their home forever. This is salvation and security. This is the promise of everlasting life.

So much of Advent is spent contemplating the ills of the world. But this passage reminds us that even in the midst of Advent, there is hope. Even in this winter season, when we come to the shortest, darkest day of the year, we head already into that period where each day begins to be longer than the one before. Though the trees remain bare in many parts of North America, nevertheless, earth has already begun making her journey toward spring and the blossoming of new life.

Today's passage reminds us that God, even in God's anger, still envisions God's children living in peace and abundance. Today's passage reminds us to lift our eyes toward that day. Already on today, we may begin living in hope and acting as though we expect God's goodness among us soon.

Dear God, help me to live in hope, knowing that we do not hope because the evidence suggests that we should, but we hope because you are faithful. Thank you for your promises. Amen.

Selection by Rev. Dr. Sharon E. Watkins, General Minister and President, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), to be published in Partners in Prayer, Advent 2006. Used by permission of Chalice Press, St. Louis, MO.

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Winning Media Support in Maine

"We urge readers to support the mid-coast chapter of Bread for the World to help eradicate world hunger… [Hunger] has decreased by 20 percent in the last 30 years. It could be further cut in half by 2015 for just a few pennies per American per day."

Editorial, the Bath Times Record (Maine)
August 30, 2006

The day before this editorial ran, the Bath Times Record published a feature article, "Bread for the World urges new focus on eliminating hunger," which quoted mid-coast Maine BFW activists Ted Bradbury and Christine DeTroy on the organization's mission and upcoming local activities. The two pieces are just the latest in a history of providing media coverage of Bread for the World's work.

"It's the gold standard of media activism – when a paper trusts and respects activists enough not only to publish letters to the editor and opinion pieces, but to endorse our work in its own editorials," says BFW Local Media Associate Shawnda Eibl.

Ted Bradbury describes how the group secured its media coverage.

"We began making contact with the paper fairly soon after we started the mid-Coast Maine chapter in 2003, sending in letters to the editor and opinion pieces. It does take a lot of patience because you have to develop a relationship and build credibility.

"We found that there was a basic fundamental level of sympathy among the staff about hunger and poverty and what we do at Bread for the World. But we as advocates still need to have good substantive information and present it in a way they're comfortable with."

Members of Congress closely follow the media in their districts, especially its editorial content. Bradbury reported that when BFW activists met with staff for Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) last year, the office already had a copy of a recent article from the Bath Times Record.

For more information on local media work, please contact Shawnda Eibl at seibl@bread.org or your Bread for the World regional organizer.

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From a Few Coins to Hosting Archbishop

Judy Andrews' involvement with Bread for the World began more than 20 years ago. But her education about poverty began in childhood.

"My mother loved to travel. When I was five we took a train to the mountains of Mexico. There were always children begging alongside the train," Judy recalls.

 Though a child herself, she was moved by the plight of these children.

"My mother encouraged me to help the way I could at the time, by giving them all the coins in my purse."

In the early 1980s, Judy and her husband, Rich Andrews, had more resources than a few coins in a purse. Once again, she struggled with how to use their wealth to help people in need.  She talked with her pastor, Monsignor Bill Steele of St. Cyril of Alexandria Church in Houston.

"He taught me that I was in a position to influence other people of wealth and that I should not squander that opportunity, but be responsible for poor people," Judy says. "He introduced me to Bread for the World and then I started that church's Bread group."

Rich himself has also played a role in encouraging Judy's activism.

"He's in the investment counsel business. He recommended that I invest in something of value and with time I would see it grow. So, I invested in Bread for the World, and the return is more for hungry people because of the leverage that Bread provides. Now Rich serves on the Special Gifts Committee with me, and helps Bread manage its endowment."  

Judy and Rich established a family foundation to facilitate their charitable giving. Getting their three children — Ginny, William and Peter— involved is important to Judy. Ginny serves on the foundation board.

Judy also makes efforts to reach out to other church communities. Recently, she hosted a dinner in Houston with Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza, newly retired from the Galveston-Houston Diocese, and with BFW President David Beckmann. She invited 30 people she felt would be moved by hearing Bread for the World's story.

Archbishop Fiorenza, a long-time BFW supporter, noted that Bread for the World's work is consistent with Roman Catholic teaching to seek justice for hungry and poor people. He commended participation to all in attendance.

Many thanks to Judy and Rich Andrews for their faithful service to hungry people!

Presenting the ONE Campaign to Congress

The August congressional recess found most members of Congress back in their home districts. Bread for the World and ONE activists took advantage of this opportunity to meet with their senators and representatives and urge them to do more to reduce global hunger and poverty.

Among the many successful events was an hour-long meeting between the youth group at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Cincinnati, OH, and Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH). The meeting was scheduled after several members of the youth group met with Schmidt's office to follow up on Good Shepherd's Offering of Letters and discuss their work with the ONE campaign.

About 55 young people and their parents participated in the meeting with Rep. Schmidt. The students used this year's Offering of Letters video (filmed in the Congo) and other visual materials to show the realities of hunger, poverty and U.S. development assistance, and what people working as ONE can do to help. Students talked about their personal reasons for supporting the ONE Campaign. For example, an elementary school student told Rep. Schmidt about becoming friends with a boy from Bolivia who was undergoing burn treatment at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Rep. Schmidt mentioned her previous involvement with Bread for the World and encouraged the Good Shepherd group to stay politically involved.

"The students did a wonderful job and really knew their stuff," said BFW Faith Outreach Organizer Abby Jansen. "This was even more evident during the question and answer period. They asked respectful and upfront questions that pushed [Rep. Schmidt] to respond directly."

Several Texas activists also used their knowledge of hunger and poverty issues to respond to questions when they met with the office of Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX). They addressed concerns about controlling the budget deficit by explaining that the small amount of spending on poverty-focused development assistance has little effect on the deficit. Another group of advocates used a combination of personal experience and knowledge of foreign assistance programs during a conference call with Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA). Rev. Walter May of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) synod talked about how foreign aid made a difference to a sister synod in Tanzania, while BFW activist Ellen Fisher explained President Bush's promises on increasing development assistance and in which accounts they have fallen short.

For more information on meeting with your members of Congress about the ONE Campaign -- whether in Washington, DC, or in your home district -- please contact your Bread for the World ONE faith outreach organizer or regional organizer.  

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When Congress returns to Washington after the November elections, finalizing foreign assistance spending for 2007 must be an urgent priority. Urge your members of Congress to do everything in their power to ensure that poverty-focused development assistance levels are set and include at a minimum the $2 billion increase requested by the president.

Points to make:

• Millions of hungry and poor people around the world could benefit from the increased development assistance that the United States has promised. 
  
• Increases have been requested by the president and approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate Appropriations Committee. Congress should approve the additional $2 billion in the president's request.
  
• Fiscal year 2007 began on October 1, 2006. Congress must finalize appropriations as soon as possible.

U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Capitol Switchboard: 202/224-3121

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