MEDIA ADVISORY: D.C. Interfaith Budget Vigil

["Lesley Crosson" <LCrosson@churchworldservice.org>]

MEDIA ADVISORY
 
Church World Service, interfaith groups plan Nov. 20 budget Super Vigil
in Washington
 
WASHINGTON, November 15, 2011 -- As U.S. Super Committee lawmakers
grind down to a November 23 deadline to slash $1.2 trillion from the
federal budget, humanitarian agency Church World Service will be among a
gathering of the nation’s interfaith leaders in Washington for a
November 20 Super Vigil pressing for a budget that preserves what is
viewed as vital domestic and international assistance funding.
 
Joining with religious coalitions of Christians, Muslims and Jews for
the Washington vigil are faith groups and churches in cities across the
country who are uniting and signing on to hold November 20 vigils in
their own communities. The groundswell is the highlight of a national
Faithful Budget Campaign that began this summer with daily prayer vigils
in view of the Capitol building in Washington. 
 
“We are asking simply for a just and compassionate -- a life-saving --
budget,” says Church World Service Director of Advocacy Martin Shupack,
who helps lead the Faithful Budget Campaign and will participate in the
Washington vigil. 
 
“We’re asking God to move the hearts of policy makers and urging
members of the U.S. Congress to agree to a ‘faithful’ and fair federal
budget that does not cut vital lifelines to impoverished and vulnerable
families here and abroad. 
 
Faithful Budget Campaign members say they are asking the appointed
Congressional Super Committee to make compassionate investments in
America's future that call for shared commitment by all Americans for
the nation's common good, including raising federal revenues. 
 
“We don’t think it can be said enough times to remind our elected
representatives and leaders that foreign assistance accounts for just 1
percent of the federal budget. And those funds literally mean lifesaving
food and medical assistance for millions, including small children,”
said Shupack.
 
 
WHAT
The Faithful Budget Campaign
Super Vigil
in
Washington, D.C.
 
and
 
Participating prayer vigils in cities nationwide
 
 
WHEN:
Sunday, November 20, 2011
3:00 PM
 
 
WHERE:
Lafayette Park
Pennsylvania Ave and Jackson Place, NW
Washington, D.C. 20006
 
For locations of other November 20 vigil sites, see:
http://www.churchworldservice.org/site/PageServer?pagename=how_adv_faithful_budget_campaign

 
 
WHO:
 
 The Faithful Budget Campaign
 
 
BACKGROUND:
 
The Faithful Budget Campaign Super Vigil follows an initiative of
regular prayer vigils that interfaith leaders have held in sight of the
Capitol since the beginning of summer. 
 
In addition, coalition members, including dozens of heads of national
religious institutions, have signed letters to members of Congress about
preserving poverty-focused domestic and international assistance, met
with key members of Congress, and held public events as witness to their
institutions’ commitments to advocate for programs for people struggling
to overcome poverty. A peaceful prayer sit-in in the Capitol rotunda on
July 28 led to the arrest of a score of the country’s interfaith
leaders. 
 
The anticipated seismic budget cuts, as part of Congress’s and the
Administration’s struggle to resolve the U.S. deficit, would come at a
time when the U.S. poverty rate is at a 45-year high. One in eight
Americans lives in poverty. 
 
Worldwide, CWS says U.S. international assistance each year:
•     feeds 46.5 million of the world’s most vulnerable people;
•     prevents 114,000 infants from being born with HIV;
•     saves 3 million lives through immunization programs;
•     helps produce safe drinking water sources to 1.3 billion people;
•  helps small-scale farmers, especially women, grow and market more
food to feed more hungry people through the U.S. Feed the Future
initiative. 
 
For more Washington and nationwide Super Vigil information:
http://www.churchworldservice.org/fbc
 
Media Conta
cts
Lesley Crosson, (212) 870-2676, media@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin - 24/7 - (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net
 
Church World Service
475 Riverside Drive
New York, NY 10115
(212) 870-2061