Background/History

Over the past 50 years, there has been significant progress in the effort to reduce hunger and poverty around the world. Today there are fewer poor and hungry people in the world than there were even twenty years ago. Yet, as the world moves into the 21st century, an estimated 1.4 billion people continue to live in extreme poverty and 862 million suffer from hunger. Given our resources, our knowledge and capabilities, the world should be able to make even greater advances in fight against hunger, poverty, and disease in the decades ahead.

Bread for the World [Bread] is a collective Christian voice urging our nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad. The goal of this project was to provide help and opportunity far beyond the communities in which we live by changing policies, programs, and conditions that allow hunger and poverty to persist.

Goals & Objectives

1) Engage a broad group of Christians, local congregations, and national church bodies in education and advocacy to end hunger.

2) Make a measurable impact on reducing hunger and poverty each year through a focused "Offering of Letters" campaign.

3) Disseminate educational resources that help individual Christians learn about the realities of hunger and poverty, and make the connection between their Christian faith and action to end hunger.

4) Publish annual Hunger Report, a monthly newsletter, educational resources for congregations, and the annual Offering of Letters Kit, and other user friendly advocacy resources for individual and denominational use.

Activities Plan

I. a. Increase in number of congregations ordering Offering of Letters Kits, numbers of contacts with Congressional leaders, congregations and middle judicatory bodies participating in Bread for the World initiatives (Bread for the World Sunday, newsletter subscriptions and orders for educational materials). b. Participation of young leaders in annual training, National Gathering and numbers of college and seminaries conduction letter writing and other advocacy actions.

II LONG TERM: a. Bread for the World measures poverty-focused development assistance in the U.S. budget and increases on an annual basis. B. Bread for the World Institute, the United Nations Development Program, and others will be measuring progress in developing and developed countries in meeting the eight Millennium Development by 2015.

III Bread for the World will identify, promote, and evaluate Congressional and Administration proposals on domestic hunger and poverty in 2009. The Alliance to End Hunger has been polling to measure changes in U.S. public opinion around hunger and poverty issues.