At the 2009 Southeastern Iowa Synod Assembly, the voting members unanimously voted to alleviate childhood hunger in the Synod by 2015 in conjunction with the United Nations and the United States goals. A copy of the resolution can be accessed here ( [Download not found]). The Synod has also for the last four years partnered with the Coalition in Support of Hungry Children in their annual event held to work on achieving this goal. The event is Hope for the Hungry.
Hope for the Hungry is a day-long gathering which this year is scheduled at St. John’s Lutheran Church in downtown Des Moines on November 10. The theme for the day is “What does hunger look like?” Click here for details and registration form for the event. The Southeastern Iowa Synod has committed, as it has each year, to being a Partner in this event.
There are 49 million hungry people in the United States; 16 million of them children. Hope for the Hungry is an annual event held in Des Moines to look at the issue of hungry children by being informed, inspired, and together seeking practical ways to work in collaboration with the United Nations and the United States in alleviating childhood hunger by 2015 by forming action teams in your local community.
While Hope for the Hungry is a one-day event, the Coalition in Support of Hungry Children is an international network of people who have committed to working actively on the UN and USA goals of alleviating childhood hunger “wherever they are, in whatever way they can;” in other words locally, where each one’s area of influence is.
The Coalition’s motto is: “Global Goals….Local Solutions.” It has developed a model that can be used anywhere as a guide to work with local city, school, food-related entities, congregations, and individuals to form a team of folks focused on accomplishing the 2015 goal in your home area.
President John F. Kennedy said, “We have the ability, we have the means, and we have the capacity to eliminate hunger from the face of the earth. We need only the will.”
Plan to help the Synod accomplish its resolution by joining us in Des Moines on November 10 to focus on alleviating childhood hunger in your area by 2015. Let us commit to “having the will” to do so. There should be no hungry children in Iowa, the richest farming soil in the world, in the breadbasket of our nation. If we can send a man to the moon (another of President Kennedy’s goals) we can alleviate childhood hunger in the Southeastern Iowa Synod by 2015. All we need is the will.
For more information on the Coalition in Support of Hungry Children and November 10th’s Hope for the Hungry check out our blogspot: coalitioninsupportofhungrychildren.blogspot.com or you can contact me at [email protected].
See you in Des Moines: St. John’s Lutheran Church, 600 6th Avenue, Des Moines, IA, November 10, 9:00 AM-3:00 PM, registration fee, $15 with freewill offering for lunch, early bird registration deadline October 26 (postmark date).
Written by Pr. Diana Sickles, Founder and Director of Coalition in Support of Hungry Children
