The following is the script for an excellent skit about the Offering of Letters campaign presented on May 13 at Calvary Lutheran Church in Edina, MN. It was written by Martin Fergus, to go along with a grocery bag demonstration created by Cathy Brechtelsbauer and Tammy Walhof. This demonstration has been used throughout the Upper Midwest and Plains. Consider using a similar skit at your own church to promote Bread for the World's 2012 Offering of Letters campaign. 

SCENE:  Two long, church tables are on stage a few feet apart, one toward stage-right with 20 empty grocery bags on it; the other toward stage-left is empty.  Rebekah stands at one end of the stage-right table, filling a bag with groceries to be delivered to the local food pantry Volunteers Enlisted to Assist People (VEAP). Dan enters from stage-left, in front of the tables while Rebekah (Bek) continues to fill a grocery bag.

DAN:  Hi Bek.  What you doin’?

BEK:  Packing up groceries from the congregation to take over to VEAP.

DAN:  How much do you think you’ve got?

BEK:  I’m not sure. Last March, during the Minnesota FoodShare drive, we collected more than 100 pounds.

DAN:  How well did VEAP do with that drive?

BEK:  Great.  They met their target – 100,000 pounds of food and $100,000.

DAN:  Wow, that’s a lot!

BEK:  Yeah, and statewide, Minnesota FoodShare took in more than 4.4 million pounds of food and almost $8.5 million as well!

DAN:  That’s impressive!  Too bad that some of this might be undone by what’s happening in Washington, DC.

BEK:  What do you mean?  What’s happening in Washington, DC?

DAN:  Well, the House of Representatives is proposing to make deep cuts in food stamps and other nutrition programs. That could really make things tough for the people served by food pantries like VEAP?

BEK:  Why?  How would that affect VEAP?

DAN:  Well, cuts would mean more people needing help from VEAP – and fewer resources to do so, since part of VEAP’s food comes from federal programs.

BEK:  But if there are cutbacks, couldn’t VEAP just have another food drive?  And couldn’t we up the amount of food we collect here at Calvary?

DAN:  Well, look at it this way.  How many bags do you have on that table?

BEK:  I’ve got 20 of them.

DAN:  OK.  Now assume that these 20 bags represent all the food provided to those in need by both private giving and federal programs.  How much do you think is provided by each?

BEK:  Oh, I don’t know.  VEAP and Minnesota FoodShare sure get a lot of support – look what they did in just in one month – and there are groups like that all over the country.  Maybe half the food comes from private contributions and the other half from the federal government?

DAN:  You mean sort of like this?  (Dan places 10 of the bags on the empty table.)

BEK (looking at the bags on the tables):  Yeah, that looks about right?

DAN:  Want me to show you the actual numbers?

BEK:  Well, OK.  If you’d like to.

(Dan moves nine more bags from Bek’s table to the other table and looks at Bek.)

DAN:  Just 5 percent of the food for those in need comes from private donations; the rest is from federal nutrition programs.

BEK:  Wow!  I never imagined.  What will people do if the federal nutrition programs are cut?

DAN:  Yeah, what will they do?  But we don’t have to let it happen.

BEK:  What do you mean?  What can we do about it?

DAN:  There are groups, like Bread for the World, that are organizing letter writing campaigns – to ask Congress to put a “circle of protection” around federal nutrition programs.  Would you like to learn how you can get involved?

BEK:  Well, I’d like to know more about it first.

DAN:  That’s fine.  There’ll be an information table at coffee hour today – why don’t you stop by?

BEK:  OK, I will!  I’ll see you there!

DAN (turning to the congregation):  If you’d like to learn more, why don’t you stop by too?

+To learn more about our campaign to preserve funding for programs that help poor and hungry people, or to participate in your own Offering of Letters campaign, click here.

From beaches and amusement parks, to barbecues and road trips, the weather is warming up and folks are busy making summer plans. If you haven’t finalized your plans yet, consider adding camping to the list! Next month, Bread for the World will celebrate spirituality, social justice, and art at the second annual Wild Goose Festival, June 21 to 24 in Shakori Hills, NC. Bread President David Beckmann will speak at the event, and several staff will be on hand to share the good word about Christian advocacy with attendees.

Whether you’re an avid camper, a social justice activist, or if you’re just looking for something great to do this summer, the festival is a great opportunity to mingle with an exciting array of speakers, musicians, and artists — as well as several thousand people who are called to create a more just and caring world. The festival aims to unite people under the umbrella of creativity, bridging the political and religious divide that exists in U.S. society. It is open to everyone, and “respectful, but fearless conversation” and action for the common good are strongly encouraged.

During the event, Bread will host a “Concert for Justice” on Friday, June 22, with musicians Bryan McFarland & Jacob's Join, along with members of The Collection and Songs of Water. David Beckmann will speak the following day at 5 p.m. There will be many opportunities during the event to take action on issues that affect hungry and poor people.

Bread is a sponsor of this unique festival, which locates itself “at the intersection of justice, spirituality, and art.” Learn more about the event, including how to register.  

If you have questions about Bread’s involvement, please contact Michael Smith at msmith@bread.org.

Michael Smith is southeast regional representative for Bread for the World.

"It is very important for young people not to be afraid of engaging in areas that are not common to the youth. Get involved in local activities, get involved in local initiatives, be involved in leadership positions, because you can’t learn unless you are involved. And if you make mistakes, that is alright too, because we all make mistakes and we learn from those mistakes. You gain confidence from learning, failing, and rising again.”

--Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmental activist

"One of the greatest feelings in the world is knowing that we as individuals can make a difference. Ending hunger in America is a goal that is literally within our grasp."

--Jeff Bridges, actor and hunger advocate

An Offering of Letters is also effective when you get an endorsement from the pulpit, especially a thumbs up from the pastor.  In fact, having the pastor preach on the topic of the Offering of Letters would be ideal, especially if the theme fits nicely with the scripture readings for that Sunday (or weekend).

But the pastor isn't the only one who can tell folks in the pew to write letters. Dedicated lay persons can also perform this task.  This is exactly what Crish Tippit and Rita Harris did at All Saints Lutheran Church in Albuquerque, NM. When offered the opportunity to do a presentation to the congregation, Crish and Rita decided to provide the information with a simple, but very effective, skit. The Offering of Letters committee at All Saints Lutheran decided to focus on the mini-campaign dealing with tax credits for low-income families.

Here is the script for the skit Crish and Rita performed: 

The 75 letters that came from the church's Offering of Letters were sent primarily to  Sen. Jeff Bingaman, who sits on the Senate Finance Committee and has a key role in legislation to renew these important tax credits. Feel free to use this skit as a framework for devising your own skit and conduct an Offering of Letters at your church!

Carlos Navarro is an activist with Bread for the World based in New Mexico. He blogs at Bread New Mexcio.

Photo caption: A campus group writes letters to their members of Congress. Bread for the World photo

If you had $75 billion to spend on solving some of the world’s greatest challenges, where would you start? An expert panel of Nobel laureate economists known as the Copenhagen Consensus recently answered that question. After extensive research and consultation, they determined that the single best investment the world could make to advance health and prosperity would be to fight malnutrition in young children.

We have always known that tackling child malnutrition is the right thing to do. Perhaps now that it’s seen by experts as the smartest thing to do, we will be able to mobilize the investment needed to finally tackle a condition that plagues close to 200 million children, robbing them of their health and future potential.

Thankfully, we already know how to prevent the needless suffering and the nearly 3 million child deaths that result each year from malnutrition. Simple interventions such as breastfeeding and inexpensive treatments for diarrhea management in young children could save more than 1 million lives a year.

We also know that proper nutrition early in a child’s life—particularly during the 1,000 days between a woman’s pregnancy and her child’s second birthday—can help break the cycle of poverty by ensuring healthy brain development, stronger immune systems, better performance in school, and higher earning potential. 

David Beckmann is president of Bread for the World. Lucy Sullivan is executive director of 1,000 Days.

+Click here to learn more about foreign assistance.

Photo caption: Constantia and her son Gustavo live in Cobue, Monzambique. Gustavo became severely malnourished after contracting malaria. Constantia took him to a clinic where she learned how to feed him a fortified milk formula with a syringe every few hours around the clock. Soon he was eating Plumpy'nut, a high-protein therapeutic food. A year later Gustavo is healthy and eating normal foods. Photo by Rebecca Vander Meulen.

Below is an excerpt from President Obama's speech today at the Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security: Advancing Food and Nutrition Security at the 2012 G8 Summit by The Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Click here to read his full speech.

... As the wealthiest nation on earth, I believe the United States has a moral obligation to lead the fight against hunger and malnutrition and to partner with others.  So we take pride in the fact that because of smart investments in nutrition and agriculture and safety nets, millions of people in Kenya and Ethiopia did not need emergency aid in the recent drought. 

But when tens of thousands of children die from the agony of starvation, as in Somalia, that sends us a message we still got a lot of work to do.  It's unacceptable.  It's an outrage.  It's an affront to who we are. 

So food security is a moral imperative, but it's also an economic imperative.  History teaches us that one of the most effective ways to pull people and entire nations out of poverty is to invest in their agriculture.  And as we've seen from Latin America to Africa to Asia, a growing middle class also means growing markets, including more customers for American exports that support American jobs.  So we have a self-interest in this.        

It's a moral imperative, it's an economic imperative, and it is a security imperative, for we've seen how spikes in food prices can plunge millions into poverty, which in turn can spark riots that cost lives and can lead to instability.

And this danger will only grow if a surging global population isn't matched by surging food production.  So reducing malnutrition around the world advances international peace and security, and that includes the national security of the United States.  

Perhaps nowhere do we see this link more vividly than in Africa. On the one hand, we see Africa as an emerging market.  African economies are some of the fastest-growing in the world.  We see a surge in foreign investment.  We see a growing middle class, hundreds of millions of people connected by mobile phones, more young Africans online than ever before.  There's -- there's hope and some optimism. And all of this has yielded impressive progress:  for the first time ever, a decline in extreme poverty in Africa; an increase in crop yields; a dramatic drop in child deaths.  That's the good news.  And in part, it's due to some of the work of the people in this room.   

On the other hand, we see an Africa that still faces huge hurdles -- stark inequalities, most Africans still living on less than $2 a day, climate change that increases the risk of drought and famine -- all of which perpetuates stubborn barriers in agriculture, in the agricultural sector, from bottlenecks in infrastructure that prevent food from getting to market to the lack of credit, especially for small farmers, most of whom are women.        

I've spoken before about relatives I have in Kenya who live in villages where hunger is sometimes a reality. 

Despite the fact that African farmers can be some of the hardest- working people on earth, most of the world's unused arable land is in Africa.  Fifty years ago Africa was an exporter of food.  There is no reason why Africa should not be feeding itself and exporting food again.  There is no reason for that.  (Applause.) 

So that's why we're here.  In Africa and around the world, progress isn't coming fast enough.  And economic growth can't just be for the lucky few at the top; it's got to be broadbased for everybody.  And a good place to start is in the agricultural sector. 

So even as the world responds with food aid in a crisis, as we've done in the Horn of Africa, communities can't go back just to the way things were, vulnerable as before, waiting for the next crisis to happen.  Development has to be sustainable, and as an international community, we have to do better. 

So here at the G-8, we're going to build on the progress we've made so far.  Today I can announce a new global effort.  We're calling a new alliance for food security and nutrition.  And to get the job done, we're bringing together all the key players around a shared commitment.  Let me describe it. 

Governments, like those in Africa, that are committed to agricultural development and food security -- they agree to take the lead, building on their own plans by making tough reforms and attracting investment. 

Donor countries, including G-8 members and international organizations, agree to more closely align our assistance with these country plans.  And the private sector, from large multinationals to small African cooperatives, your NGOs and civil society groups, agree to make concrete and continuing commitments as well, so that there's an alignment between all these sectors.   

And I know some have asked, in a time of austerity, whether this new alliance is just a way for governments to shift the burden onto somebody else.  I want to be clear:  The answer is no.  As president, I can assure you that the United States will continue to meet our responsibilities so that even in these tough fiscal times, we will continue to make historic investments in development.   

[Read President Obama's full speech here.]

+Plus: Bread for the World responds to President Obama's speech.

Just as Jesus fed 5,000 with just five loaves of bread and two fish, one congregation, Peace Lutheran Church in Rogers, AR, is feeding more than 18,000 people a year through their food pantry. With only 375 members, this small church packs a powerful punch when it comes to combatting hunger in their region, which is experiencing widespread rural poverty that extends into four states: Arkansas, southern Missouri, southeast Kansas, and eastern Oklahoma.

Rev. Paul Theiss pastors Peace Lutheran Church and signed Bread for the World’s recent petition to Congress that says churches cannot shoulder the burden of protecting poor and hungry people alone. When signing the petition, Rev. Theiss left this comment: “Our congregation, Peace Lutheran Church, fed over 18,000 people during 2011 through our food pantry and additional children through our subsidized preschool and childcare center. We might have to close our youth and music ministries to find enough money to feed the many more who would come looking for food help.”

I called Paul Theiss to ask him about his ministry, the unique needs in his community, and how an added cost of $50,000 a year to help poor and hungry people would impact his church. Read our conversation below:

Tell me about Peace Lutheran Church. What services do you offer your community?

We have 375 baptized members and our average worship attendance is about 150. We operate the largest and highest-rated Christian preschool and learning center in Rogers, AR, which takes children from 6 months to kindergarten, and is partially subsidized by federal funds for working poor parents through the state of Arkansas.

Our pantry fed 18,000 people in 2011 and we spend $20,000 to $25,000 a year on food. We also receive many in-kind donations from members, local businesses, restaurants, and friends in the community.

Have you noticed increased need in the recent years since the economic recession?

Compared to the rest of Arkansas, this area has very low unemployment, but it’s surrounded by a large area of rural poverty that extends into four states. Many of the jobs here are minimum wage, which doesn’t support a household. So it’s very common to see people working two or three jobs and still not making it. You might say they are one car breakdown or sick child away from an empty pantry.

Could you share the story of one particular food pantry participant who stands out to you?

One young lady who worships regularly with us has an infant child. She is a single mom and works at a local restaurant, and has her child in our infant care center. She receives food stamps, WIC, and subsidized childcare. Her family also helps her. She is very intelligent and capable and faithful, but she’s living on the edge. And she would be among those affected by the recent cuts enacted by the House of Representatives. 

What was your response to the news that the House voted to cut funding to programs for poor and hungry people?

A sense of disbelief. Our representative is the former mayor of our town and he certainly knows the situation here, and I can’t believe that he would be responding to the need in such a way. So that’s the disbelief part of it.

I also feel overwhelmed when I think about what would happen if these cuts go through. The figure that’s put out there by Bread for the World is that every congregation would have to come up with $50,000 more per year [if House cuts are enacted]. Well, that’s an average. And for a place like Peace Lutheran Church, we’re talking about an exponential growth in need.

What is your greatest concern?

Sometimes when I park my car and walk up to the church door, I think about what it would be like if people were standing in line around the corner waiting for the pantry to open and not having enough to give them.

Where do you find hope?

That’s easy. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You can’t imagine a more hopeless situation than the death of Christ, and yet God brought something wonderful and powerful out of that.

The faith of the people I see who are involved in this ministry gives me hope as well. There was an anonymous note here that was given to one of our food pantry volunteers and I got a copy of it. It said:

“I’m sorry I didn’t know your name, but last month when my sister and I came to the food bank, we got here real early, and we were just sitting in my car waiting. You came out and told us to go ahead and come in. You didn’t know it, but our nephew had been in a really bad car accident. He lives with me and had just been here a few days. I needed to go ahead and do food banks, and he knew I had my cell phone and could reach me if needed. You really took a load of worry off me and my sister. God bless you, and thank you. K--- and J---”

So that’s just a touching thing when you think about how many people this volunteer has to deal with every day and he’s unemployed himself.

+Join Rev. Paul Theiss and sign our petition to Congress and let them know that churches cannot be the only ones responsible for feeding hungry people!

Jeannie Choi is associate editor at Bread for the world. Follow her on Twitter @jeanniechoi.

Taking the food stamp challenge for a week is a far cry from the reality nearly 49 million Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) recipients face trying to stretch their SNAP dollars to the end of the month. But for celebrity chef Mario Batali, taking the food stamp challenge starts a conversation, and that's a good thing.

The reality for people who rely on SNAP goes beyond just the struggle to eat, and often includes a myriad of other challenges, such as gaining stable hours at work, paying for rent, keeping the lights on, and getting to the doctor. Nearly 99 percent of SNAP households have net incomes below the poverty line (about $22,000 a year for a family of four in 2011). For Batali, who is currently taking the food stamp challenge for one week, planning a week of meals for his family of four on $124 was, “not at all relaxing.”  Batali says, “It’s very much thinking about it all the time, which is what I imagine hunger feels like on a regular basis.”

In a brief backstage interview for his TV show, The Chew, Batali goes on to note that taking a challenge is not the same as living the reality, “It’s easy for us because we all know that next week we are going back to whatever we do. But it’s an interesting conversation every day to think about what hunger is, what food is, what nutrition is -- in a way that really makes us think about it on a much more personal level.” [See the video below.]

Another reality is that SNAP works. In tough economic times SNAP has been a life-line to families. As the economy heals, participation in the program will decrease.

Yet some in Congress want to force families out of the program. The House has proposed cutting $169 billion to SNAP and some have said that the churches can pick up the slack. Proposed changes like block granting would mean 8 to 10 million people would lose benefits that put food on the table. It would require roughly every religious congregation, on average, an additional $50,000 per year over 10 years to make up for these cuts. 

We need your help to turn the conversation into action. In June, members of Bread for the World will be in D.C. for our annual Lobby Day. We will be carrying petitions to our members of Congress that say people of faith find cuts to SNAP unacceptable. We have set a goal that the petition will include 5,000 religious leaders. Sign the petition and please make a commitment to ask your community’s leaders to speak up and defend our nation’s most effective line of defense against hunger.

Robin Stephenson is a regional organizer at Bread for the World.