Disciples Farmers and Congregations Respond to Global Food Crisis

Thursday, July 17, A.D. 2008

After a flurry of recent media attention, the escalating global food crisis has quickly and quietly slipped from the front page to the back page, but by no means has the crisis in any way lessened, and the threat it is posing to millions and millions of impoverished people in scores of countries throughout the world is real and growing. In the last six months alone, prices of such basic food staples as corn, rice and wheat have increased more than 50%, even as much as 100% in some countries. Poor families that were spending 10-20% of their income on food are often forced now to spend more than 50%. For the more than one billion people already living on the UN minimum survival wage of U.S. $1 a day, this is devastating.

One of the quiet but effective ways Week of Compassion has been responding to the global food crisis is through the partnership we Disciples share with the Foods Resource Bank. The partnership enables local Disciples farmers to donate a portion of their harvest to FRB, and in turn, FRB works with numerous partners around the world to empower poor farming families become self-sufficient in their own food production and security.

In 2007, WOC provided $1000 partner grants to 22 local FRB growing projects here in the U.S. $22,000. The return from all those projects has now been made to FRB and the harvest total is $345,154.38! From these funds and those of its other 14 members, FRB is funding 44 food security/production projects in 32 of some of the world’s poorest countries. From its FRB account WOC is supporting 30 of those 44 projects.

Disciples congregations participating in 2007 growing projects include FCC, Valparaiso, IN; FCC, Lafayette, IN; Carlock (IL) CC; FCC, Canton, IL; Cameron (IL) CC; Arlington Heights (IL) CC; FCC, Shenandoah, IA; Bloomfield (IA) CC; Roaring Springs CC, Herndon, KY; Cadiz (KY) CC; FCC, Hopkinsville, KY; CC of Kalamazoo, MI; Fremont (MI) CC; FCC, Warrensburg, MO; Orrick (MO) CC; Rosendale (MO) CC; FCC, Platte City, MO; Community CC, Kansas City, MO; Country Club CC, Kansas City, MO; FCC, Centralia, MO; FCC, Columbia, MO; St. Andrew CC, Olathe, KS; East Lincoln (NE) CC; and CC of Wilkinsburg, PA. To find out more about the Foods Resource Bank and how your congregation can participate, contact Week of Compassion or visit the FRB website .

Volunteer Opportunities Abound

Volunteer work and service opportunities abound for Disciples work groups. The Office of Disciples Volunteering recently announced plans for Phase II of the Disciples Hurricane Recovery Initiative, and mission stations will continue to operate in Gulfport, MS; Algiers, LA; Slidell, LA; Metairie, LA; Lake Charles, LA; Beaumont/Port Arthur, TX and Los Fresnos, TX. Also, our congregations in Pratt and Kinsley, KS, continue to partner together to house a mission station for ongoing tornado rebuilding work in Greensburg, KS. And now a new mission station is being opened in partnership with congregations in Marion, Cedar Rapids and Coralville, IA, to respond to flood recovery needs there. Volunteer work groups are urgently needed for these mission stations and in numerous other places and with other church partners throughout the country. To find a place and time suitable for your work group, please contact the Office of Disciples Volunteering: amoyars@dhm.disciples.org, 317.713.2666 or toll free 888.346.2631, or http://www.discipleshomemissions.org/Volunteer/DisasterResponse. A limited number of WOC work grants may be available. Applications can be downloaded from the WOC website by clicking here.

WOC Map/Poster

Click here for the complete listing of this week’s responses. For a complimentary copy of the map/poster for your congregation, call the office at 317.713.2442 or send an e-mail to ecleveland@woc.disciples.org.