Can you be an advocate to eliminate hunger?

By Rick Nelson, member, Synod Hunger Committee

Members of the Southwestern Washington Synod will soon be contacting pastors and congregations to enlist hunger advocates from the synod's congregations.
The hunger advocates are champions for hunger and poverty issues, with a call to speak out for the poor and the hungry and to help create educational opportunities for members of their congregations.
The Hunger Committee will provide training and materials for advocates. Activities that advocates can undertake include:

- To hold one congregational event annually that focuses on hunger/poverty issues. This could be an educational or an advocacy event, or a special offering to support the ELCA World Hunger Program.
- To speak with the pastor and leaders of their congregation about hunger issues, both local and global.
- To learn about the programs in their community that fight hunger and to promote congregational relationships or partnerships with those programs.
- To become familiar with ELCA Hunger Packets and to share them with appropriate congregational leadership. (Much of the content can be viewed online at www.elca.org/hunger/resources/packet.html or ordered from (800) 638-3522, Ext. 2794.)

The Hunger Committee is also looking for youth or youth programs interested in fighting hunger.
The committee will meet at 10 a.m. Oct. 1 at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Olympia, to continue working on the program.
At their meeting Aug. 22, committee members learned that since Feb. 1, 2011, 40 congregations have given $41,142 to ELCA World Hunger in offerings that passed through the synod office. Some congregations have made donations directly to the churchwide hunger office, and these don't show in the synod records.
The deadline for submission of ELCA Hunger Grant Applications is Aug. 26, and committee members anticipate visiting applicants programs in October to evaluate programs. They have tentatively scheduled a meeting Nov. 5 to prioritize the applications and report them to the churchwide hunger program, which will make the final grant awards.