An
effective
response to hunger must combine private and
public actions, neither can do the job
alone. Christians have worked well in the
private arena, Bread for the World provides
a means where Christians can work equally
well for effective public policies in the
fight against hunger...
Join the
Oregon Bread Team, work with us to reduce the
scourge of hunger from our country and our
world ( Contact )
2012
Offering of Letters Workshop
Saturday, March 3rd
9am - Noon
First United Methodist Church 1838 Southwest
Jefferson Street, Portland
Learn the priority issues concerning
hunger for this year and how to organize a
letter writing event with your church or
group. Together we can expand
hunger advocacy and continue to build the
movement which can end hunger.
For more information or to register email
Mike Hiland ( Contact
)
Food Stamped: A Deep Look
at America’s Broken Food System with Congressman
Earl Blumenauer
Monday, February 20, 2012
7 – 9 pm at the Bagdad Theater
3702 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd
Free admission with donation
to Oregon Food Bank
Congressman Earl Blumenauer, a leading
advocate of shifting farm subsidies away
from agribusiness to the small farmer,
is our guest speaker. He will discuss
one of the most important pieces of
legislation to counter hunger that very
few Americans know anything about: The
Farm Bill.
There will also be a brief video
presentation about Southeast Portland’s
Abernathy
Elementary:
“Planting Seeds of Change, Growing
Healthy Kids”
Join us for a screening of
the hour-long documentary “Food Stamped,” an
informative, entertaining and inspiring film
about the challenges to low-income families
and individuals trying to eat healthy while
living on food stamps.
(view trailer
at www.foodstamped.com)
Presented by
CommunityRelationsCommittee
with
Oregon Faith Roundtable Against Hunger, Tuv
Ha’Aretz, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon
and Oregon Area Jewish Committee
A Circle of
Protection: A Statement on Why We Need
to Protect
Programs for the Poor
In the face of
historic deficits, the nation faces
unavoidable choices about how to
balance needs and resources and
allocate burdens and sacrifices. These
choices are economic, political—and
moral. As a community of faith, we
believe the moral measure of the
debate is how the most poor and
vulnerable people fare.
We look at every budget
proposal from the bottom up—how it treats
those called “the least of these” (Matthew
25:45). They do not have powerful lobbies,
but they have the most compelling claim on
our consciences and common resources. The
faith community has an obligation to help
them be heard, to join with others to
insist that programs that serve the most
vulnerable in our nation and around the
world are protected. We know from our
experience serving hungry and homeless
people that these programs meet basic
human needs and protect the lives and
dignity of the most vulnerable. We believe
that God is calling us to pray, fast, give
alms and to speak for justice.
As
faith leaders, we are committed to
fiscal responsibility and shared
sacrifice. We are also committed to
resist budget cuts that undermine the
lives, dignity, and rights of poor and
vulnerable people. Therefore, we join
with others to form a Circle of
Protection around programs that meet
the essential needs of hungry and poor
people at home and abroad.
1. The
nation needs to substantially reduce
future deficits, but not at the expense
of hungry and poor people.
2.
Funding focused on reducing poverty
should not be cut. It should be made as
effective as possible, but not cut.
3. We
urge our leaders to protect and improve
poverty-focused development and
humanitarian assistance to promote a
better, safer world.
4.
National leaders must review and
consider tax revenues, military
spending, and entitlements in the search
for ways to share sacrifice and cut
deficits.
5. A
fundamental task is to create jobs and
spur economic growth. Decent jobs at
decent wages are the best path out of
poverty, and restoring growth is a
powerful way to reduce deficits.
6. The
budget debate has a central moral
dimension. People of faith are asking
how we protect “the least of these.”
“How do we share sacrifice?” "How do we
make 'Justice flow...'"
7. As
believers, we turn to God with prayer
and fasting, to ask for guidance as our
nation makes decisions about our
priorities as a people.
8. God
continues to shower our nation and the
world with blessings. As believers, we
are rooted in the love of God. Our task
is to share these blessings with love
and justice and with a special priority
for those who are poor.
Budgets
are moral documents, and how we reduce
future deficits are historic and
defining moral choices. As faith
leaders, we urge Congress and the
administration to give moral priority
to programs that protect the life and
dignity of poor and vulnerable people
in these difficult times… It is the
vocation and obligation of the church
to speak and act on behalf of “the
least of these.” This is our calling,
and we strive to be faithful in
carrying out this mission.
"Speak up
for those who cannot speak for
themselves, for the rights of all who
are destitute. Speak up and judge
fairly; defend the rights of the poor
and the needy" Proverbs 31:8-9
Local resources
Bread
Oregon Blog: Latest Posts (click the title below
to see the article)
Oregon Bread
Team: Join the Bread
team and get more involved in
contacting our representatives about
hunger issues and spreading the
story of Bread for the World to
churches in your area (Find
out more).
Bread For The
World Monthly Call for the Western Region
1st Monday of the
Month @ 6 - 6:30PM
Each month we will get an update from Robin
and Matt, our Portland based western regional
organizers. They keep us up to date on the
latest congressional news, and there is always
an educational focus along with ideas for
action. We also get the chance to hear about
what other groups in the western region are up
to.
To dial in, simply call 1-800-704-9804.
When prompted, enter 78674441#
Matt
Newell-Ching
and Robin Stephenson Your Western
Regional Bread for the World Organizers mching@bread.org, rstephenson@bread.org
Contact Matt or Robin to get on the email list
for monthly reminders about the call.
Monthly
Online-Offline
Meeting for Bread for the World Oregon
This
is
not
really
a
meeting,
its
more
of
a
presentation
that
you
can
follow.
It
consists
of
a
devotion,
education
and
action
pieces,
and
gives
you
the
chance
to
send
feedback.
The
action
items
consist
of
sending
email
notes or calls to our legislators and allows
you to add your voice to other Oregonians
taking the same actions. Please click the
above link to learn and help.
2012
Offering of Letters
Expanding the Circle of
Protection
Each year Bread
for the World invites churches and groups
across the country to write personal letters
and emails to their members of Congress on
issues that are important to hungry and poor
people. These letters send a powerful message
to our country’s political leaders and help us
as a nation move closer to our goal of ending
hunger. We are driven by our faith to make our
voices heard in Congress and to make our
nation’s laws more compassionate to people in
need.
This year, Bread
for the World members and advocates need to
raise our voices more than ever.
Since the 2010
elections, members of Congress have been
primarily focused on reducing the federal
deficit in order to balance the budget. The
deficit-reduction proposals Congress is
considering could result in the most severe
cuts to programs for hungry and poor people in
Bread’s history.
Bread’s 2012
Offering of Letters is designed to respond to
these challenges by making our advocacy as
effective as possible. So that Bread members
and activists can respond more quickly to
what’s happening in Congress, we will run
several campaigns simultaneously. Our overall
campaign focuses on protecting funding for
programs for hungry and poor people. Within
this broader campaign to create a circle of
protection are four mini-campaigns that
address specific legislative topics before
Congress:
domestic nutrition assistance
poverty-focused foreign assistance
tax credits for low-income families
international food aid
This website
contains all the information you need for the
overall campaign. Continue to visit this
website and the Bread Blog for updates on the
campaigns.
Depending on how
the work of Congress unfolds in 2012, churches
or groups may want to conduct the overall
campaign and/or one or more of the
mini-campaigns. For example, when Congress’
budget process is in full swing, a
congregation’s Offering of Letters might focus
on poverty-focused foreign assistance within
the budget debate—especially if the
congregation’s district or state is
represented on the appropriations committees.
This is a
journey God has called us to undertake. We
have no doubt God is equipping us as we work
to expand the circle of protection around
programs that are vital to hungry and poor
people in the United States and abroad.
Bread for the
World’s Offering of Letters materials are
available online at www.bread.org/OL.
