wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] PC(USA) joins 2 anti-poverty campaigns

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8929 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05515
Sept. 26, 2005

PC(USA) joins 2 anti-poverty campaigns

by Alexa Smith

SACRAMENTO, CA - The Worldwide Ministries Division Committee (WMDC) voted
over the weekend to have the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) join two campaigns
aimed at rallying pastors and members to fight poverty here and abroad.

	The WMDC is now a founding member of the Alliance for Fair Food
(AFFF), an organization allied with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW),
a movement of farm workers whose national boycott of Taco Bell restaurants
increased the wages paid to immigrants who pick tomatoes for the company's
suppliers. CIW also negotiated the first-ever code of conduct for the
industry.

	The PC(USA) supported the boycott and helped facilitate negotiations
with Yum! Brands, Taco Bell's parent company, whose headquarters is in
Louisville. The boycott ended on Sept. 1.

	The CMD committee, which had gathered in connection with a meeting of
the General Assembly Council (GAC), also voted to sign the PC(USA) on to the
"ONE Campaign," which aims to direct 1 percent of the U.S. budget - and 1
percent of the budgets of other developed nations - to fighting AIDS and
extreme poverty in the world's poorest countries.

	ONE was founded by 11 U.S. humanitarian organizations, including
CARE, Bread for the World, Save the Children and World Vision. It is linked
directly to the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals - the first of
which is reducing the number of hungry people in the world by half over the
next 10 years.

	"The idea is to broaden the church's understanding of what is at
stake now ... what's happening in the rest of the world," said the Rev. Mark
Lancaster, a United Methodist pastor who directs the Presbyterian Hunger
Program (PHP), the program area that will coordinate denominational
involvement in the educational campaigns.

	"There's a deep link between the fair food campaign that the GAC just
included us in as a supporting member, and the work we're taking on as part
of the ONE Campaign," Lancaster said.

	The AFFF's goal is to extend the principles of its agreement with
Yum! Brands to other fast-food companies. It already has encouraged members
to write to the chief executive officers of Burger King, Subway and
McDonald's, urging them to implement agreements like that between CIW and
Yum!

	That agreement set new standards for workers in the industry,
guaranteeing more humane working conditions and better wages.

	The AFFF is in its founding stage. Early members include the United
Church of Christ, the National Council of Churches and a number of on-campus
student groups.

	It is all about maintaining momentum, said Lancaster, who noted that
the PHP created a half-time position to coordinate support for the boycott -
and hired the Rev. Noelle Damico of New York City - and is now planning a
similar half-time position to relate to the AFFF.

	"The church surpassed itself with support for the boycott," Lancaster
said, noting that affluent local congregations boycotted Taco Bell, attended
protests and wrote letters, aligning with immigrant farm workers in an
unprecedented way. Now the denomination will work alongside AFFF in other
negotiations and campaigns. 

	"That's the really important piece of this," Lancaster said. "We're
not doing it for them, we're just supporting them. The GAC's action says, 'We
want to follow your lead, be partners right beside you.'"

	Lancaster said the church has a lot to learn from the poor here and
abroad - and that's how the two movements connect.

	ONE is organized around the principle that less than .15 percent of
the U.S. federal budget is currently marked for developmental assistance
worldwide. One percent would be $25 billion. Over 800,000 Americans have
signed the agreement, including celebrities such as actors George Clooney,
Tom Hanks and Salma Hayek, singer Bono, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and
evangelist Pat Robertson.

	The ONE Declaration - which may be signed by individuals,
congregations and middle governing bodies - acknowledges that devoting one
percent of the U.S. budget to education, health care, clean water, food and
care of orphans will take time. But it asks for a commitment of "one person,
one voice, one vote at a time."

	The action authorized a ONE focus at regional and national
gatherings, particularly those for youth and young adults. It also instructs
the PC(USA)'s Washington Office and the Hunger Action Enablers to assist in
public-policy advocacy to Congress and federal administrations to support
ONE's objectives in future budgets.

	"It's a strong moment," Lancaster said, noting that citizen groups
are coalescing to demand justice for the world's poorest people. "The church
should be speaking. They're talking about justice for the poor, and we're
still stuck on charity."

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