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...
Call to Action: Ask the
administration and your members of Congress to
replace the automatic cuts known as
sequestration with a comprehensive,
balanced, and bipartisan approach to deficit
reduction. The final package must protect
programs for hungry and poor people and
includes increased revenue. Call the Capitol
Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or use our toll
free number: 1-800-826-3688.
Write
Letters to Congress: ask your
senators and representative to protect
programs vital to hungry and poor people.
The most immediate
threat to programs addressing hunger and
poverty is sequestration, which goes into
effect today. Sequestration imposes a 5.3
percent across the board cut to federal
programs like WIC and poverty-focused
development assistance (PFDA) for the
remainder of fiscal year 2013. For more on
sequestration basics and a list of
anti-hunger and anti-poverty programs that
are affected, you can download our fact
sheet, "The Consequences of
Sequestration."
Congress is considering a number of
proposals to eliminate the sequester for the
remainder of the fiscal year. However, some
of the proposals unfairly place the burden
on programs such as WIC, PFDA, and other
programs that help lift people out of
poverty. We are urging Congress to
replace the sequester with a bipartisan,
balanced approach to deficit reduction
that includes smart spending cuts and new
revenues.
Political leaders will be paying close
attention to the nation’s reaction to the
sequester as we lead up to the next fiscal
showdown later in March, the expiration of
the continuing resolution currently keeping
the government funded. If there is
significant outrage over the impact of the
cuts, Congress will address the sequester
when it takes up the rest of the budget
for FY2013 by March 27. If public opinion
isn’t forceful enough, we are likely to
see these cuts become the new normal and
vital programs will be underfunded for
years to come.
Stay tuned for an action alert
next week as we learn more;
encourage your friends and family to get
involved. Building momentum and political
will in the next few weeks is critical and
will require a loud constituency. Phone
calls, messages through social media, and
emails to members of Congress will be
essential to saving these programs.
Petition the President
to set a goal and work with Congress on a
plan to end hunger in the United States
and abroad.
We now have more than 7000 signatures on
the petition asking President Barak Obama to
set a goal and work with Congress to end
hunger at home and abroad. If you haven’t
already done so, sign
the petition today, and encourage
others in your network to join you.
This week, nearly 100 pastors and
religious leaders from across a wide
spectrum of the church addressed our
nation’s leaders through a joint
letter. They counseled President Barak
Obama, Majority Leader Harry Reid, Minority
Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker John Boehner
and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to be clear
about the moral choices they are making, as
the Bible tells us that the government has
responsibilities concerning poor people.
A Place at the
Table: Bread for the World's Offering of
Letters
What is an Offering of
Letters? Each year, Bread
members write to their members of
Congress, advocating for policies that
help end hunger in the United States
and around the world. Often, letter
writing is organized in churches and
taken up as an offering before sending
them to Congress. But we encourage all
people who care about hunger to write
to their representatives and senators,
whether in groups or individually.
Is signing the petition
enough? No. Writing
letters to Congress is
particularly important this year as
lawmakers continue to negotiate the
federal budget. Letters (and calls and
email messages) help give them the
political will to protect programs
that help hungry and poor people.
Those programs are at great risk and
any cuts will significantly harm the
lives of thousands or millions of
people.
What does the Bible say
about hunger? Throughout
scripture, God's kingdom is portrayed
with ample food and drink and a place
for all people at the table. Read
our biblical reflection about
the biblical basis for our Offering of
Letters.
How does the film A
Place at the Table help our
efforts to end hunger? This
year Bread for the World is an
alliance partner for A Place at
the Table, a feature-length
documentary about the persistence of
hunger in America. Showing around the
country and available on-demand, the
film gives advocates an excellent
opportunity to raise awareness. Get
more information about the film and
supplementary material—including a
discussion guide—here.
How can I learn more about
the issues? You can find
videos, stories, fact sheets, links,
and more on our Learn
the Issues page. Keep checking
back. We will continue to add material
throughout the year.
Documenting Hunger: "A Place at the Table"
How is it possible that people in this
country continue to go hungry, despite our
abundance of food?
A Place at the Table, a new
eye-opening documentary, answers that
question through the lives of three
people. Barbie, a young Philadelphia
mother, fights to make ends meet and break
the cycle of poverty. Rosie, an
imaginative fifth-grader, tries to
distract her mind from hunger pangs as she
learns and grows in rural Colorado. And
Tremonica, a sunny Mississippi
second-grader, struggles with health
problems caused by the poor nutritional
value of the food that her mother can
afford. Their stories reveal the depth of
the hunger crisis in America and the
factors that drive it.
The film also shows that we have made
progress against hunger in the past—and
that we can do it again.
We are pleased that the launch of A
Place at the Table coincides with
Bread for the World's 2013 Offering of
Letters. Together, they magnify our focus
on ending hunger through changes in public
policy. Our association with Participant
Media does not end when the film hits
theaters across the country. We are also
partners on the social action campaign
accompanying the film.
Through A Place at the Table's
social action campaign, Bread
members have more avenues for action — at
both the local and the national level.
Bread for the World and Participant Media
will regularly ask our advocates to take
action throughout this joint campaign.
Bread articles cover issues
and legislation that affects
hungry and poor people, our work
in the field, and the advocacy of
our members. Published eight times
a year.
This newsletter is sent three
times a year. Legacy of Hope
offers information on financial
planning and tells the stories of
individuals and families who
support our work to end hunger.
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).
In 2005, the latest year for which data
are available, 1.4 billion people in developing
countries lived in extreme
poverty—on less than $1.25 a day—down
from 1.9 billion in 1981.
In the United States,
14.5 percent of households struggle to
put food on the table. More than one in
four children is at risk of hunger.
We can end hunger in
our time. Everyone, including
government, must do their part.
By making
our voices heard in Congress, we make
our laws more fair and compassionate to
people in need.
Bread for the World is a
collective Christian voice
urging our nation's decision makers to
end hunger at home and abroad.
God's grace in Jesus Christ moves us to
help our neighbors, whether they live in
the next house, the next state, or the
next continent.
Confronting the problem of hunger can
seem overwhelming.
What can one person do? Plenty.
Bread for the World members write
personal letters and emails and meet
with our members of Congress.
Working through our churches, campuses,
and other organizations, we engage more
people in advocacy.
Each year, Bread for the World invites
churches across the country to take up a
nationwide Offering
of Letters to Congress on an issue
that is important to hungry and poor
people.
Speak out for those who cannot speak, for
the rights of all the destitute. Speak
out, judge righteously, defend the rights
of the poor and needy. (Proverbs 31:8-9)
Bread for the World is a collective
Christian voice urging our nation’s
decision makers to end hunger at home and
abroad. Our partners represent a wide
spectrum of church organizations and faith
communities.
Everyone—including government—must do
their part to end hunger. With the stroke
of a pen, policies are made that redirect
millions of dollars and affect millions of
lives. Make your voices heard in Congress
by speaking out for the needs of hungry
and poor people.
Bread for the World is a collective
Christian voice urging our nation's
decision makers to end hunger at home and
abroad. When we turn our faith into
action, God uses our voices. Again and
again, we win help and opportunity for
hungry and poor people.
Bread for the World empowers faith
communities, campus groups, and other
organizations to end hunger. Are you
interested in getting involved in your
local community?
