Disciples Women
Social action emphasis: "Daily Bread For All"
True or False: The world’s population is too large
to feed everyone. Hunger and malnutrition are just necessary
effects of there being too many people.
Not enough food?Plenty of food, but no way to distribute
it effectively? What do you think?
Until June 2006, the Social Action Emphasis of Disciples
Women is, "Daily Bread For All." This is the fourth
emphasis, continuing what was begun by the International Christian
Women’s Fellowship in 1989. During this Social Action
Emphasis, all women and groups are asked to take some action
around Hunger. We will publicize a wide variety of things
that you can do. Choose what seems most important, most doable,
most "stretching" for yourself and your group. A
common service project for all groups to participate in will
begin in January of 2005 and end at the 2006 "Mix in
‘06" Quadrennial Assembly for women.
Grounding, subject content, study information that you need
to help you with action can be found in the 2003-04 issue
of "A New Day"—Feed My Sheep. As you study
the issue, choose action. Begin with what seems easiest to
do, what inspires you the most, what you can do along with
others. This may mean becoming involved in an already existing
local food pantry. The 2004-05 issue of "New
Day" – Body and Soul – continues with information
and action ideas for addressing Hunger.
Your response may mean participating in Bread for the World’s
annual Offering of Letters which gives you a voice about Public
Policy on Hunger. It may mean working on or walking in the
local CROP Walk www.churchworldservice.org/CROP, raising funds
for world hunger relief as well as local needs. As your work
continues you will see other needs not being met and other
ways to act. Move into those areas of action. If your region
has participated in the Women’s Action Web you might
ask someone who attended to speak to your group or congregation
about "seeing with new eyes" the needs and possibilities
in your community.
The following list can serve as a starting point for action
ideas. Additional ideas and updates will be available through
your regional staff for women and in future Guideposts for
Leaders. Meantime, you can begin with one of these:
- Make a daily visit to the online Hunger Site. There you
can help feed hungry people at no cost to you. Sponsors
contribute food each time you click onto the site and you
can do that once each day. You’ll also receive a quick
lesson in the geography of hunger. Bookmark and publicize
www.thehungersite.com.
- Contribute your favorite recipes to your local food bank.
When people are given 1,000 pounds of potatoes they need
lots of creative ideas for serving them.
- Ask children to decorate grocery bags with rainbows, smiley
faces, cheerful drawings, then donate these bags to the
food pantry for their delivery of groceries to hungry people.
- Learn about the miracle of the Moringa tree. Several African
nations are using every part of this tree as an easily-available,
low-cost nutritional supplement. The Moringa’s leaves,
pods, and flowers contain many vitamins and minerals needed
to maintain health, particularly important for HIV-positive
individuals. It can rebuild weak bones, enrich anemic blood
and enable a malnourished mother to nurse her starving baby.
Contact Church World Service at (800) 297-1516 or www.churchworldservice.org
to learn more and to donate to this project.
- The Heifer Project helps hungry families feed themselves.
Your tax-deductible gift of an animal or tree seedlings
is multiplied. The recipient family breeds the animal and
agrees to contribute that animal’s first female offspring
to another family in need who also agree to pass on the
gift. Thus the goat that you donate can provide milk and
cheese and new hope to many families. For more information
and to see the "Gift Catalog" call (800) 422-0755
or see www.heifer.org.
- Ask grocery stores and restaurants about their policy
on discarding unopened or uneaten food. Develop a plan to
get the food to people who need it before it becomes perishable.
- America’s Second Harvest has many suggestions about
ways to end hunger. Visit their web site at www.secondharvest.org/hungerdigest
or call (312) 263-2303.
- Bread for the World will send you a free copy of "What
You Can Do to End Hunger." This group wants to help
churches end hunger both in North America as well as globally.
They sponsor an annual offering of letters to Congress,
testifying in places of power in order to bring good news
to the poor and to let the oppressed go free (Luke 4:18.)
For information call (202) 639-9400 or (800) 82-BREAD [(800)
822-7323] or visit www.bread.org.
- FRAC (the Food Research and Action Center) posts a weekly
news digest about what’s new on hunger, nutrition,
and poverty issues. For instance you can learn about the
School Breakfast Scorecard which suggests strategies to
increase breakfast program participation. They will also
help us learn more about obesity, improving nutrition, and
fresh produce for the inner-cities through farmer’s
markets. This is the group that blew the whistle on the
government’s labeling catsup as a vegetable in the
school lunch program. See their web site at www.frac.org.
- This is one that only YOU know about. What is one action
project you can do in your community? Tell others and invite
them to join you, and call or send your ideas to the Office
of Disciples Women, (888) 346-2631.
True or false from the top?
I’ll bet that you can guess the answer based on your
belief in a God who has called Creation "good."
