• Every day almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes—one child every five seconds.
• 854 million people are hungry.
• In developing nations, one person in six goes hungry and lacks safe drinking water.
• Nearly 36 million Americans—including more than 12 million children—live in households that experience hunger. This represents more than one in 10 households in the U.S.
• In 2006, 26.7 million people participated in the food stamp program each month (8.6 percent of the U.S. population).
• The wealthiest fifth of the world’s people consumes 86 percent of all goods and services, while the poorest fifth consumes 1 percent.
• Learn more about hunger through the ELCA World Hunger Program and Lutheran World Relief’s Virtual University (a monthly online class) and study visits.
• Take the ELCA World Hunger Appeal $5 Challenge. If every baptized ELCA member gave $5 to the appeal, a $25 million goal will be reached.
• Give to Stand With Africa to assist communities and churches in their work to overcome HIV/AIDS, banish hunger and build peace.
• Join the ELCA e-advocacy network to take action on social policy issues related to domestic and international hunger, poverty and the environment.
• Use the ELCA Good Gifts catalog for alternative gift suggestions related to water, agriculture, women and children, training and education, health care and other issues.
• Participate in Bread for the World’s Offering of Letters campaign, March through August 2008, to advocate for more funding for foreign aid programs and for passage of the Global Poverty Act (800-82-BREAD).
• Take the Food Stamp Challenge to better understand the challenge that millions of low-income Americans face in obtaining a healthy diet on the national average food stamp benefit of $1 per person, per meal.
• Join the One Campaign to fight global poverty, hunger and disease.
• Participate in a CROP walk to raise money for local and international hunger projects.
• Learn about the connection between lifestyle and hunger—how to simplify your lifestyle, “challenge consumerism, live justly and celebrate responsibly” (Alternatives for Simple Living, 800-821-6153).
• Purchase fair-trade items, such as coffee, chocolate and handcrafts.
• Participate in the “Souper Bowl of Caring” on the same Sunday as the NFL’s Super Bowl (Feb. 3 this year). Collect money and/or cans of food to support local, national and international anti-hunger efforts.
• Consider holding a world hunger appeal emphasis on a Sunday close to World Food Day, Oct. 16.
Once a year, Owdenburg Mdegella visits the rural Lutheran church in the Iringa Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania , where he is bishop. On one visit, Mdegella and parishioners sat down after worship for their annual conversation about mission.
Mdegella asked them: “To what villages are you sending out evangelists? … How are you addressing the needs of those who go to bed hungry every night? … Are you accessing and drilling new wells? … Are you diversifying crops to better sustain the community? … Have you planted new trees to counteract the loss of trees used for heating food?”
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| Lisa Wenzlick leads members of St. Luke Lutheran Church, Portland, Ore., and concerned community folks to take an active role against poverty and hunger. |
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© 2013 Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
