Government & Politics

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- Bread for the World today launched its 2009 Offering of Letters Campaign aimed at making U.S. foreign assistance more effective in serving the world's poor and hungry people.

"Even in an economic crisis, we can continue to fight global poverty. Just by doing foreign aid better, we can do more for the poorest of the poor -- people who survive on less than $1.25 a day," said Rev. David Beckmann, president, Bread for the World. "Congress must ensure that global development is as prominent as defense and diplomacy as instruments of U.S. foreign policy. This will create a better, safer world."

Currently, U.S. global development policies and programs are scattered across 12 departments, 25 different agencies, and nearly 60 government offices. "A more efficient foreign assistance system -- with better coordination, better accountability, and better clarity -- means that people will get help faster and more effectively," said Rev. Beckmann.

He added that during President Barack Obama's inaugural speech, he pledged to work with poor countries "to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds ... we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders."

More than 1,400 churches and denominations throughout the United States will participate in the 2009 Offering of Letters campaign (www.bread.org/OL2009). As part of the worship service or mass, Christians will write letters to Congress in support of legislation that will benefit poor and hungry people in the United States and abroad. Instead of money, these letters are placed in the offering plates and dedicated to God. In Sunday school classrooms or on campuses, young people will also write letters and pray over them before they are mailed to their representatives in Congress.

"You can literally change the world for the cost of a first-class stamp," said Rev. Beckmann. "Letters written 10 years ago to Congress are still having their impact today in terms of more African children able to go to school; more people receiving medicines for HIV/AIDS; and more assistance for low-income families in America to put food on the table."

Last year, as part of its campaign to reform the farm bill, Bread helped add an additional $10 billion in food and nutrition funding over the next 10 years. Other campaigns have led to the establishment of the Millennium Challenge Account, an innovative program aimed at reducing poverty in developing countries while fighting corruption.

Former U.S. Representative Eva Clayton knows the effectiveness of Bread for the World's Offering of Letters campaigns. "When public sentiment arrives in the halls of Congress in the form of handwritten letters - especially when they come in large numbers - boy, do lawmakers really get interested, and sometimes a little nervous. The power of constituency and sharing one's views through a letter cannot be overstated," she said.

Bread for the World (www.bread.org) is a collective Christian voice urging our nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad.

SOURCE Bread for the World