Nurture Your Faith
Pray and Fast to be in spiritual solidarity with hungry and poor people. Allow God’s Spirit to guide us to order our lives and actions for justice toward all our brothers and sisters who are hungry and are living in poverty.
Invite your friends or community members to form a Bible study about hunger and poverty. See www.bread.org/hungernomore for Hunger No More and other Bible study resources.
Connect with Bread
Attend a local Offering of Letters workshop to learn about the 2010 Offering of Letters campaign and how to organize an Offering. Check Bread’s events calendar at www.bread.org/events or ask your regional organizer about attending a “virtual” workshop online.
Join or start a local Bread group or campus team. Invite others to study the issues and take action on hunger. If you belong to a prayer or Bible study group, brief other members regularly on Bread’s efforts.
Join Bread for the World at our Lobby Day in Washington, DC. Bread members from around the country will gather on Tuesday, June 15, 2010, to speak to their members of Congress directly on the Offering of Letters issue. Scholarships may be available.
Engage Your Church or School
Organize an Offering of Letters in your congregation, school, or university. Invite everyone to take part in this proven way of engaging people in faith-based advocacy for hungry people.
Encourage your church to become a Bread Covenant Church. See details on page 29.
Find out what initiatives your denomination may have that can help your congregation understand and relate to the Offering of Letters.
On campus, work together with other justice organizations—e.g., by writing letters after a community service project or during a Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.
What More Can You Do?
Organize a local visit with your members of Congress. Many are regularly in their home states and districts. Recruit Bread members and other faith leaders to participate. If the member is not available, request a conference call with his/her staff member in Washington who handles tax policies.
Sign up for Bread’s email Quicklines. Learn when calls to Congress are most urgently needed. These email alerts or Quicklines give you background information and a short, easily understandable message for your senators or representative. Sign up to receive alerts at www.bread.org/quicklines.
Write a letter to the editor or an op-ed in your local newspaper about why your members of Congress should support hunger-fighting initiatives. See www.bread.org/localmedia
Sign up for Fresh Bread, our biweekly e-mail update on what’s happening in Washington with hunger issues. Get the details on congressional actions and the progress of Bread initiatives.
Read the Bread Blog for stimulating points of view and innovative ideas. Post comments about what your own group is doing. We’re at www.bread.org/blog.
Listen to Breadcast, Bread for the World’s monthly podcast, for stories and interviews on our issues. Listen at iTunes or www.bread.org/podcast.
Invite speakers to your church or campus group, such as volunteers who assist low-income working families. Invite people who can tell their story about how tax credits helped them escape poverty.
Volunteer with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program. Assist low-income working families with preparing their taxes. Call 1-800-829-1040. When prompted, press 2 for “personal income taxes,” then 3 for “general tax questions.” Ask the IRS representative about your nearest VITA site. They will transfer you to the Procedures Department for the contact information.
Explore Bread’s Offering of Letters Web site at www.bread.org/OL2010 as a resource throughout the year. It will contain the most recent campaign updates, sample letters, and aids for further education and action around the Offering.
For questions or advice about these and other suggestions, contact your regional Bread for the World office or our national office at 1-800-82-BREAD.
Church Leaders: Become More Involved with Bread for the World
Become a Bread Covenant Church: You can strengthen your church’s hunger ministry through a Covenant Church relationship with Bread for the World. When you make a commitment to integrate hunger concerns into the life of your congregation, Bread provides tools that will equip your church to learn more about hunger, pray for hungry people, and take action to end hunger through advocacy.
Celebrate Bread for the World Sunday: This event, usually held in October or any Sunday between World Food Day (Oct. 16) and Thanksgiving, is an annual opportunity to join worshipping communities across the country in renewing your commitment and lifting up your voices to overcome hunger and poverty in God’s world. Learn more at www.bread.org/sunday.
Bread for the Preacher: Bread has a free email newsletter geared to pastors and church leaders. Each monthly edition features preaching aids and worship resources surrounding hunger and poverty. Sign up at www.bread.org/preacher.
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