-Nancy Arnison, director of the ELCA World Hunger Program — LifeLines Summer 2006 publication
ELCA WORLD HUNGER’S deep commitment to Africa is lived out in many ways. For example, a significant component of ELCA World Hunger funding goes to African development projects. The work in Africa (conducted by companion churches, Lutheran World Relief, the Lutheran World Federation, Church World Service, and others) receives a higher proportion of World Hunger funds than any other region of the world. Stand With Africa designated gifts support work above and beyond the ongoing major commitment of this church to the people of Africa. Important ELCA education and advocacy work also brings a focus to Africa, including the genocide in Darfur, Sudan; the night-commuting children in Uganda; women’s rights; HIV/AIDS; and, of course, the ONE Lutheran Campaign and the Millennium Development Goals. The ELCA’s Corporate Social Responsibility office urges corporations working in Africa to pursue responsible environmental, labor, and AIDS policies. These are just a few of the ways in which we live in relationship with our sisters and brothers in Africa. Let us deepen our service and our learning in a spirit of accompaniment, thanking God for the opportunity to use our prayers, our dollars, and our voices to proclaim God’s love and justice for all.
For more information on the ELCA World Hunger Program, go to www.elca.org/hunger.
Christ the King Church has a long history of involvement in hunger relief
efforts.
You can get involved by:
1)Bringing canned goods and non-perishible items to church and placing them in the basket in the narthex. These items are donated to the Christian Community Service Center, our congregation’s outreach partner.
2) Buying groceries at Randalls or Kroger. We are enrolled in both stores’ community benefits programs. You may pick up “share cards” from the church office. With the Kroger program, you hand the card to the checker who will scan it before ringing up your groceries. At Randalls you may enroll in the program and designate Good Neighbor #8795 which will be linked to your Randalls card. With both of these programs the church will get back one percent of our members’ total grocery purchases. That money is then forwarded to the World Hunger Appeal.
3) Sending an e-card from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to commemorate a holiday or birthday. The recipient will be delighted that you’ve made a donation to the ELCA Hunger Appeal in their honor. See www.elca.org/ecards.
4) Volunteering at the Houston Food Bank on the second Saturday of odd-numbered months. Contact Anna Stock.
5) Joining our Feed the Homeless group on second and fourth Mondays in making sandwiches and delivering them to Houston’s homeless. Contact Wendy Wiker
6) Designating gifts to the World Hunger Appeal through your regular giving at Christ the King Lutheran Church.
7) Becoming a ONE Lutheran and advocating on behalf of the world’s poor and starving: www.elca.org/advocacy/one. Literature on the ONE Campaign can be found on the mobile bulletin board and on the literature rack in the narthex.
8) Joining Bread for the World and writing letters to politicians regarding World Hunger Concerns: www.bread.org
9) Purchasing Fair Trade coffee after services any weekend.
10) Becoming informed about the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s commitment to alleviating World Hunger and about our partners in effective ministry, such as Lutheran World Relief and the Lutheran World Federation.