523 posts categorized "Advocacy"

By Marsha Casey

“Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.”

—Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Black History Month honors those who have paved the way for the victories and successes of African-Americans, ensuring each generation has a brighter future than the last. What started, thanks to historian Carter G. Woodson, in 1926 as a weeklong observance is now a month that celebrates of the accomplishments of African-Americans. I often wonder where our country would be today had it not been for the tireless efforts of Harriet Tubman, Fredrick Douglass, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the countless others whose names never made it into the history books.  

Though we’ve come a long way with respect to equality among all Americans, poverty is still an injustice that many face. During his second inaugural address on Jan. 21, President Barack Obama said, “We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American, she is free, and she is equal—not just in the eyes of God but also in our own.”

This statement's power was only heightened by the fact that it was delivered by the first African-American president on a day observing the birth of a man who stood for civil rights, justice, and equality—Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

In order to see Dr. King’s dream realized, and show respect to those African-Americans who have sacrificed and advocated so that all people could have the rights they are entitled to, it is imperative that we work to put an end to poverty. As Black History month comes to a close, let's redouble our efforts to achieve Dr. King's vision of a "beloved community," in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. We must continue urging our lawmakers to set a goal to end hunger and reduce the federal deficit responsibly, so as not to further burden those who didn’t create it.

Marsha Casey is a media relations intern at Bread for the World. She is a student at Montgomery College Takoma Park, Silver Spring Campus.

Photo: Martin Luther King Jr. leaning on a lectern (1964). From the United States Library of Congress's prints and photographs division, through Wikimedia Commons.

 

Elementary school children in southeast Washington, D.C., enjoy their lunch. (Eugene Mebane, Jr.)

By Nina Keehan

Black History Month is a time to celebrate progress and achievement, but it also provides an opportunity to acknowledge that African-Americans continue to suffer disproportionately from hunger and poverty.

The statistics are sobering. Bread’s newest fact sheet, “Hunger and Poverty Among African-American Children,” released today, puts the food insecurity rate of African-American children at about 30 percent, compared to roughly 20 percent for all U.S. households with children. Poverty figures are even worse, with 38.8 percent of African-American children under 18 and 42.7 percent of children under 5 living below the poverty line.

In some states, African-Americans make up only a small percentage of the population, but still have the highest rates of poverty. Take Iowa: although less than 3 percent of the state’s population is black, more than half of those children are living in poverty. That, compared with a poverty rate of 17.3 percent for all children in Iowa, signals a huge disparity.

The problem also exists in states that have large African-American populations. In Mississippi, African-Americans are 37 percent of the population, and the child poverty rate for that group is nearly 50 percent, compared with 31.8 percent for all children in the state.  

We must continue to work to help those suffering from hunger and poverty by being aware of these facts and fighting for programs that help reduce the disparities. Federal programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) and WIC have prevented millions of African-American families from falling into poverty. Join Bread for the World in asking the president to set a goal to end hunger. Take part in our Offering of Letters campaign, which urges Congress to protect the programs that help hungry and poor people. Make these actions a part of your Black History Month observance, and continue to fight these disparities every month of the year.  

Nina Keehan, a media relations intern at Bread for the World, is a senior magazine journalism and public health dual major at Syracuse University.

By Rev. David Beckmann

The national discussion around hunger is changing — and your work is driving that change!

More than 6,800 of you have signed our petition asking the president to set a goal and work with Congress to end hunger. During his State of the Union address, President Obama outlined his proposals to help people climb out of poverty. But the March 1 sequester threatens WIC and poverty-focused development assistance, which are not exempt from deep automatic cuts.

These events make the presidential petition more important. Thank you so much for your support. We still have much to do, but the next step is easy: go see a movie.

This Friday, March 1, the documentary A Place at the Table will open in theaters nationwide. The film, from the producers of An Inconvenient Truth and Food, Inc., focuses on hunger in America.

A Place at the Table shows that we defeated hunger in the past and that we can do it again.

Please see the film—and invite your friends, co-workers, classmates, and family members to watch it with you. Click here to find a theater near you. A Place at the Table will also be available through iTunes and on-demand on March 1.

Bread for the World's 2013 Offering of Letters is also called "A Place at the Table" and launches on March 1. Together, the film and our Offering of Letters campaign will magnify our focus on ending hunger through changes in public policy.

Watch the movie, discuss it, and spread the word about the importance of ending hunger and poverty. A hunger-free world is within reach. God is at work in our midst, preparing an abundant table where all are welcome. With your voice we will convince our nation’s leaders to ensure all people a place at the table.

   Derick Dailey teaches a Bible study class at Bethel A.M.E. Church in New Haven, Conn. A seminary student at Yale University, Derick learned about sharing his bounty from his grandmother as he was growing up in Little Rock, Ark. (Laura Elizabeth Pohl/Bread for the World)

The Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof ....
—Psalm 24:1

When Derick Dailey’s grandmother passed away in August 2012, he was asked by his family members to send a message to her as she departed.

"I said her favorite verse in her ear. I whispered, The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and all that dwell therein."

Derick recalls his grandmother repeating that verse frequently while he was growing up in her home in North Little Rock, Ark., with his twin, Eric. "Whether I was sitting on the piano playing and she was singing the hymn — or she would just sometimes just break out in that verse because she believed deeply in that," says Derick.

"That everything on this earth belonged to God."

"She was part of the Women’s Missionary Society of our local church," says Derick, "so she would start early Saturday morning cooking ... and oftentimes we would get confused thinking the meal was for us and she would remind us, 'no, I will cook something for you all on Sunday evening; this meal is for the sick and shut-in.'"

Derick, now a graduate student at Yale Divinity School, has seen hunger and poverty firsthand. "Arkansas is this rural community," he explains, "and it struggles deeply with food insecurity, with hunger, with poverty, poor education, crime, and poor infrastructure. You name it and Arkansas is confronting it."

As a sophomore at Westminster College in Missouri, Derick and his friend Eyob researched poverty in Phillips County in southeast Arkansas, one of the poorest counties in the nation. The two met with mayors and church leaders to talk about the conditions and causes of economic devastation along the Mississippi River. Derick recalls that at one point, Eyob, who is Ethiopian, exclaimed, "Wow, this looks like rural Ethiopia."

"It never occurred to me that a place in this country, the wealthiest country in the world would look like something in rural Ethiopia," says Derick. "It was a big wake-up call for me that the core of poverty is lack of opportunity and lack of resources."

"Listening to the stories and hearing the challenges [of local leaders] made clear to me that hunger and poverty are not just some abstract social science terms. These are realities for people, and not just realities for people in Third World countries but realities for people in my state, a state that I love — whether it's in Phillips County or in Little Rock seeing my own family struggle to make ends meet."

Those experiences motivated Derick to get directly involved in ending hunger and poverty. He joined Bread for the World and was one of Bread’s first Hunger Justice Leaders. Following that training in advocacy, Derick founded the Westminster Poverty Initiative, which runs a food bank and facilitates donations of clothing and household items to people in need in the community surrounding the college. Derick and Eyob also raised funds and opened a library in Ethiopia.

But Derick knows that larger actions are necessary.

"I thank God for Bread for the World for having this sort of forum where people of faith can actively engage on issues of policy in a real way without feeling that they are somehow outside the norm or they are doing something that is unchurched or unreligious," says Derick.

"The reality is that in order to break free from the bondage [of poverty] in this country and the world, we need elected officials to make good on their words and put love thy neighbor at the center of our legislative agenda."

[This piece originally appeared in the February edition of Bread's e-newsletter.]

Tara Marks, a Bread activist from Pittsburgh, once used WIC and SNAP benefits. She is currently in law school and gave testimony to the Senate Budget Committee on Feb. 13, 2013. (Laura Elizabeth Pohl/Bread for the World)

By Robin Stephenson

Today, Tara Marks is in law school—and yesterday she told members of the Senate Budget Committee that her journey from poverty to an advanced degree program was possible thanks to WIC and other similar federal programs.

Many of you remember Tara as the face of the 2012 Offering of Letters video "A Hunger for Advocacy." Her story of poverty so extreme that she skipped meals to provide enough for her son is an inspiration for many advocates at Bread for the World. Pell grants, WIC, and SNAP were the stepping stones that helped Tara escape poverty.

Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) invited Tara to give testimony. Sen. Murray has said that budgets "...are about the families across America whose lives will be impacted by the decisions we make. They are about their jobs, their children, and their future, and we owe it to them to make sure they have a voice in this process—and that their values and perspectives are heard.”

Tara’s journey plainly shows that budget discussions are about more than numbers—fiscal decisions have real consequences.

For Tara, a budget that funded domestic nutrition programs created a path out of hunger and poverty for her and her son, Nathan. During her testimony, Tara noted that when she was hungry, abundance surrounded her. “This was not a question of availability of food, but a question of affording it. I did not live in a food desert; I lived in a food mirage. I had many grocery stores around me, but I could not afford to go in and shop.”

She passed out from hunger before finally applying for SNAP (formerly food stamps), which gave her access to adequate food.  Food assistance alone did not help Tara move up the ladder of prosperity, but it gave her the stability to get the education that did.

Stories like Tara's and Nathan's not only humanize hunger and poverty, but serve to remind our members of Congress that decisions made today will affect lives tomorrow.  When Murray asked Tara where she thought she would be today were it not for those federal programs, she replied, “I would still be in poverty.”

In a continued effort to give families across the country a place at the budget negotiation table, Murray offers an online platform that allows members of the public to share their stories and ideas. Add your voice to the existing 2,000 submissions.

Today, one of the programs that provided critical assistance to Tara and Nathan—WIC—is in danger.  If the automatic spending cuts known as the sequester are allowed to go forward in the next couple of days, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that roughly 600,000 infants, children, and expectant moms will be without this vital assistance.  Their futures may well depend on your hunger for advocacy.  Call your member of Congress at 1-800-826-3688 and tell them that cutting programs that effectively combat hunger and poverty will not solve our country’s fiscal problems.

Robin Stephenson is national social media lead and senior regional organizer, western hub, at Bread for the World.

Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) listens as Bread for the World activist Jana Prescott speaks during Bread for the World Lobby Day in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, June 12, 2012. (Laura Elizabeth Pohl/Bread for the World)

By Robin Stephenson

While the 113th Congress is new, many of the issues it will tackle are not. Funding for both domestic nutrition programs and refundable tax credits is still in jeopardy. Poverty-focused  development assistance is also in danger, and any cuts made to PFDA would result in lives lost and an increase in hunger and poverty around the world.

Given the urgency surrounding congressional budget negotiations and the fact that the fate of programs that benefit hungry and poor people is uncertain, anti-hunger advocates need to be ready for a busy year. Here are three questions you should ask yourself in preparation for your 2013 advocacy efforts. 

Do you have a new representative or senator in your region?  

If so, introduce yourself to staff in the new member's local office, and also use the opportunity to introduce them to the issues in the 2013 Offering of Letters.

Relationships are key to successful advocacy and making contact with local staffers is important.  They can help you connect with the D.C. legislative staff, and since they live in the member's district and work directly to address the concerns of constituents, they often have an understanding of how poverty and hunger are affecting a community. Local meetings also give our experts on Bread’s staff the opportunity to follow up with the legislator’s D.C. staff.  Check out the Congressional Management Foundation list "Five Key Ways to Engage Freshman Legislators," and if you are able to set up a local office meeting, be sure to contact your regional organizer. Bread's organizers can provide you with talking points and handouts that you can use during your visit. 

Check out this example, from the New Mexico Bread team, on finding your members in district.

Is your member on a relevant committee?

Are you planning a hunger summit or site visit that your member of Congress could possibly attend? 

Members of Congress typically spend three days a week in Washington, D.C., and travel home on the weekends.  Members also have longer periods of time spent in their home states or districts (called recess), which are dictated by each chamber’s calendar.  Recess is a great time to connect with your member of Congress, but it's important to plan ahead. If you want to request a meeting with your member, find out scheduled town hall dates, or invite your member to an event during one of those periods, do it well in advance. 

As part of a local faith roundtable, our Oregon Bread team often partners on events that educate our community.  Last year, the newly elected Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore., District 1) dropped by the annual Oregon Faith Roundtable Against Hunger breakfast in Portland and then wrote about it in a Facebook status update!

Robin Stephenson is national social media lead and senior regional organizer, western hub, at Bread for the World.

By Robin Stephenson

“Hunger is a political condition,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) yesterday, in a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives. A long-time champion of the anti-hunger movement, McGovern is encouraging the use of a new hashtag on the social media network Twitter: #EndHungerNow.

Social networks are about conversations and national conversations influence members of Congress. We have the resources to end hunger, but we need to build political will. Increased public dialogue around the issue of hunger can help convince both Congress and the administration that ending hunger must be a national priority.

One of the most important, but least talked about, stories to emerge about the economic downturn is that the safety net has worked. “It’s important to point out that even though over 50 million people were food insecure, the vast majority had a safety net that prevented them from actually starving,” McGovern said during his speech. 

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) is largely responsible for keeping food on the tables of those Americans most affected by unemployment and under-employment. Yet during last year’s farm bill negotiations, the House Committee on Agriculture proposed $16.5 billion in cuts to the vital program. As many as 3 million people would have been cut out of SNAP and 280,000 children would have lost their school meals.

Members of Congress need to hear our call to prioritize ending hunger, so we must speak up, and use all channels available to us in order to get that message across.  McGovern will continue to do weekly "End Hunger Now" speeches on the floor and ask that you join him online, using the #EndHungerNow hashtag. Join the conversation—and tag your members of Congress in a tweet while you're at it.

Here is a video of yesterday's floor speech:

And if you aren't on Twitter, you can still influence your members of Congress and encourage them to create a circle of protection around SNAP. Write or email your representative and senators, or consider making use of public dialogue by writing an op-ed or letter to the editor and submitting it to your local newspaper.

Robin Stephenson is national social media lead and senior regional organizer, western hub, at Bread for the World.

The Twin Cities Bread team used a fall 2012 congressional recess as an opportunity to schedule an in-district meeting with Rep. Erik Paulsen(R-Mn.). Pictured: (front row, l to r) Audrey Johnson, Ed Payne, Brad Pepin; (back row, l to r): Gerry Peterson, Dick Johnson, Rep. Paulsen, Judy Waeschle, Carol Dubay, Lois Troemel. (Photo courtesy of Twin Cities Bread team)

By Robin Stephenson

For members of Congress, recess doesn’t involve games of tag or hide-and-seek on the playground. It is a time when they return to their home states and districts to find out what their constituents think—what you think.

During recess, town halls meetings (PDF ) are likely to take place. A town hall is a great opportunity to get your member of Congress to speak publicly about programs affecting hungry and poor people.

If you would like to get a face-to-face meeting with your representative or one of your senators, try to schedule it during recess, when members of Congress are more likely to be available. And if you are planning an education or advocacy event, choose a time when your member may be able to attend (August recess is the longest in-district period). They are always looking for opportunities to meet with their constituents.

Local staffers schedule activities early, but schedule changes often occur, so some flexibility on your part may be required. Just because your member is in-district doesn't mean they can attend your event, but it never hurts to ask and put yourself on their radar.

Below are the tentative recess periods for members of the Senate and House. These dates will aid you as you plan your anti-hunger activities for 2013 (you may periodically want to recheck these calendars).

House 2013  tentative scheduled recess periods:

• Feb. 18 – Feb. 22
• March 25 – April 5
• April 29 – May 3
• May 27 – May 31
• July 1 – July 5
• Aug. 5 – Sept. 6
• Oct. 14 – Oct. 18
• Nov. 4 – Nov. 8
• Nov. 25 – Nov. 29

Senate 2013 tentative scheduled recess periods:

• Feb. 18 – Feb. 22
• March 25 – April 5
• April 29 – May 3
• May 27 – May 31
• July 1 – July 5
• Aug. 5 – Sept. 6
• Oct. 14 – Oct. 18

Call your regional organizer if you want to talk about planning an event in your area. 

Robin Stephenson is national social media lead and senior regional organizer, western hub, at Bread for the World.

By Adlai Amor

Musician and pastor Bryan McFarland, a hunger advocate for the Presbyterian Church (USA), never leaves his North Carolina home without 24 paper grocery bags in his car. No, he does not shop that much: Rev. McFarland uses them as props to illustrate a Bread for the World graphic (above) that first appeared in the 2013 Hunger Report, Within Reach: Global Development Goals.

McFarland recently used his 24 bags while preaching two sermons based on the infographic. He lined up the sacks in front of the congregation—in the chancel, on the communion table, and anywhere else there was space. He then asked the worshippers to guess how many of the bags, which represented the amount of food used to feed hungry people in the United States, came from food banks and private charities.

More often than not, congregants answered, "All of them." The truth is that only one in 24 bags of food assistance comes from a charitable organization. Federal nutrition programs provide the rest.

“When I tell them that, you can feel the hush that falls and their minds open,” McFarland said in a recent conversation. After allowing congregants to absorb that information for a moment, McFarland uses the opportunity to tell them why it is so important that Christians be politically active—not partisan—and advocate for hungry and poor people.

“To realize this, especially in North Carolina, is huge,” McFarland said. That is why he now travels with 24 grocery bags and will continue to do so until the message hits home and hunger has been eradicated.

Adlai Amor is Bread for the World's director of communications.

Resource: Educate others about the vital food assistance that nutrition programs provide by performing your own 24-bag exercise.