Synod Hunger Committee plans outreach

By Rick Nelson, member of the Synod Hunger Committee

The Southwestern Washington Synod Hunger Committee has started initiatives to increase awareness of ELCA hunger programs throughout the synod.
At its January meeting, committee members agreed to present a program for effective writing of ELCA Domestic Hunger Grants, to establish or re-establish contacts with members of congregations hunger programs, and to seek an ELCA grant to support those initiatives.
In 2010, the committee evaluated 13 hunger grant applications from churches in the synod. Based on the committee’s recommendations, the ELCA awarded $22,500 in funding for 12 of the churches.
Committee members agreed that a workshop on preparing hunger grant applications would help more congregations access the grant funds, and the members agreed to present that workshop at the May, 2011, synod assembly.
Committee members also agreed that they wanted to renew communication with the contacts it has previously established in congregations and to establish contacts with congregations without contacts to help promote awareness of and participation in hunger programs in the synod and through the ELCA.
The committee plans to present a hunger issues training to develop teams that can visit congregations and promote participation in hunger programs, local or worldwide.
The committee will present a resolution on hunger awareness at the synod assembly asking congregations to renew and revitalize their attention to hunger issues in the world and in their own communities through education, discussion, increased awareness of gifts to ELCA World Hunger, and through appointing one person in each congregation within the synod to serve as the congregational contact for synod hunger awareness information and resources.
Participation on the synod hunger committee is open to anyone. Its next meeting will be March 17, 6:30 p.m., at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Olympia.