wfn.org | ELCA World Hunger Appeal Celebrates in November

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 8, 1999

ELCA WORLD HUNGER APPEAL CELEBRATES IN NOVEMBER
99-273-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its World Hunger Appeal
this year.  Members of the church are praying, conducting "services of
recommitment" and planning activities and offerings in celebration of
the appeal during a special 25-day period Nov. 1-25, 1999.
     The ELCA World Hunger Appeal is designed for members of the church
to support its work to eradicate hunger in the United States and
throughout the world financially.
     "More than one billion people living in developing countries live
in absolute poverty, often lacking food and basic necessities, let alone
the opportunity to shape their own lives.  Here at home, one child in
five lives in poverty," said Lita Brusick Johnson, director of the ELCA
World Hunger Appeal.
     The goal for the 1999 ELCA World Hunger Appeal is to raise $12.6
million.
     The appeal's anniversary "is a time of celebration and giving
thanks for what has been done, but it is also a time to commit to the
serious work of developing a plan for increasing the appeal's amount to
$25 million by 2005," said Stephen Padre, associate director for
communication, ELCA World Hunger Program.
     A special packet of resources, mailed to the 11,000 congregations
of the ELCA in September, helped members plan a 25th anniversary
emphasis beginning Nov. 1 (All Saints Day) through Nov. 25 (Thanksgiving
Day), or any time this fall, Padre said.  Resources are designed to help
"lay the foundation for a renewed and revitalized commitment for the
ELCA World Hunger Appeal into the next century," he said.
     The packet includes materials for worship, music, adult and child
education, gift-giving and church bulletins.  Congregations can plan a
three-Sunday emphasis in November based on three themes of the
anniversary: remember, reflect and recommit.
     "We remember and give thanks for the folks back in 1974, who had a
vision of what our church could and should do," Johnson said.  "The 25th
anniversary of the appeal also causes us to reflect on where we have
come, to reconnect with our brothers and sisters throughout the world,
and to recommit to the grand cause of ending hunger in our lifetime."
     "The World Hunger Appeal is a product of holy imagination.  It is
our church's main campaign to fight hunger, to use the best of our
hearts and heads and pocketbooks and bank accounts to alleviate
poverty," Johnson said.
     The 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Denver this summer adopted a
resolution that calls for members of the church to increase their
awareness of hunger in the world, to increase financial support of the
ELCA World Hunger Appeal through regular contributions and designated
gifts, and to thank supporters of the appeal.
     Earlier this year, members of the ELCA Conference of Bishops
pledged $25,000 to the appeal in honor of its 25th anniversary.  Bishops
raised more than $30,000. Members of the ELCA Church Council and Cabinet
of Executives pledged $25,000 to the appeal.
      The ELCA World Hunger Appeal was established at the 1987
Constituting Convention of the ELCA.  Churches that formed the ELCA
launched the appeal in 1974.  Since 1974 the appeal has raised more than
$200 million.
     "Funds generated from the ELCA World Hunger Appeal provide for
advocacy, development, education and relief," said Padre.  "The majority
of funds raised are given to domestic and international relief agencies
and organizations as grants," he said.
     "Hundreds of thousands of lives have been saved or changed for the
better," said Johnson.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html