Winchester, IN                   Bread For the World / FOAM               
www.bread.org  updated: 25 April, 2012

Bread for the World Group meets the last Wednesday of every month@ 12:00 Noon....all people are welcome to attend the simple meal and spend time writing letters concerning hunger issues before congress.)

2012 Offering of Letters:  Circle of Protection Around Poor and Hungry People      Each year, Bread for the World members write to their Congressional delegation to advocate for policies that can help end hunger in the U.S. and around the world.  The 2012 Offering of Letters campaign will urge Congress and the Administration to form a “circle of protection” around programs that help poor and hungry people.  (Within that campaign are four mini-campaigns that address specific legislative topics: domestic nutrition, poverty-focused foreign assistance, tax policy, and international food aid.)

    House of Representatives Seeks to Slash Food Stamp Funding

 Bread for the World is deeply distressed by the House Agriculture Committee’s April 18 decision to slash the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) by more than $35 billion.  “Cuts to SNAP, particularly at a time of continued high unemployment and unprecedented need for food assistance, are a moral outrage,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “SNAP is working exactly as intended.  It has grown to meet increased need and is expected to decrease to pre-recession levels as the economy recovers.”

 Some House Agriculture Committee members argued that churches should be responsible for feeding hungry people. If the Committee decides to cut SNAP by an additional $133 billion as directed by the House Budget Committee, it would be devastating for hungry and poor Americans and would put a huge burden on churches and charities -- to the tune of an additional $50,000 per year per congregation just for feeding the hungry in their communities.

 “America’s churches are already doing their fair share, and today’s action amounts to telling every congregation in the US -- big and small -- that they need to raise another $50,000 in benevolence gifts each year to make up for these most recent cuts,” added Beckmann.  The problem of poverty-related hunger in the US is far larger than private charities can address.  A recent study of the Indianapolis area showed that in spite of laudable donations from private agencies, well over 90% of the nutrition assistance given out there came from federally-funded programs.

 New USDA Study - SNAP Works!

A new US Department of Agriculture study confirms what Bread has asserted repeatedly over the last several years: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is successful in keeping poverty in check -- or even reducing it -- in our country.  The USDA studied nine years of SNAP data covering 2001-2009.  The report shows that in 2009, SNAP reduced the US poverty rate by nearly 8 percent. 

 The New York Times writes that the reduction of poverty in the US due to SNAP is “a significant impact for a social program whose effects often go unnoticed by policy makers.”  Currently, more than 46 million Americans benefit from SNAP -- which is the highest number of participants since the program was first piloted in 1961.  More than half of today’s beneficiaries are children, most of whom are likely to be poor.  The Times writes: “The program lifted the average poor person’s income up about six percent closer to the line over the length of the study, making poverty less severe. When the benefits were included in the income of families with children, the result was that children below the threshold moved about 11 percent closer to the line.”

 Write to Congress

Research from the Congressional Management Foundation confirms that handwritten, mailed letters are still the best way to communicate with your members of Congress.  In fact, 96 percent of Capitol Hill staff reported in a survey that if their member of Congress had not reached a decision on an issue, personalized letters would influence his or her position.  Personalized emails can also be effective, but congressional offices experience large amounts of email and sometimes lack the additional staff to handle the volume and evaluate the email’s authenticity.  Handwritten letters from constituents of members of Congress are always read and logged.   Sending paper letters to legislators’ in-state offices can help them reach their Washington office more quickly.

 Sample Letter

 Sen. Richard Lugar                               Sen. Dan Coats                                  Rep. Mike Pence

306 Hart Senate Office Bldg.                   B40E Dirksen Senate Off. Bldg.                     1605 Longworth HOB

Washington, DC  20510                         Washington, DC  20510                         Washington, DC  20515

       202-224-4814                                 202-224-5623                                   202-225-3021

senator_lugar@lugar.senate.gov              senator_coats@coats.senate.gov                mike.pence@mail.house.gov

 

            or                                             or                                                or

 

    1180 Market Tower                            1650 Market Tower                             1134  Meridian Plaza

      10 W. Market St.                              10 W. Market St.                               Anderson, IN 46016

   Indianapolis, IN 46204                         Indianapolis, IN  46204

 

Dear Rep. Pence,  Sen. _____________, 

The small church I attend gives a significant portion of its annual budget to social outreach and benevolence.  Every year recently, the church has had to tap its reserve funds for around $10,000 in order to balance the books at the end of the year because parishioners’ offerings fail to meet the expenses.  I hope you understand how distressing it is for us to learn that some members of Congress are saying churches should be primarily responsible for feeding hungry people. 

 A recent study in Indianapolis showed that less than 10% of nutrition assistance distributed in the metro area was funded from private sources.  Over 90% came from federal programs.  Churches like mine are doing all they can  to meet needs in our communities, even going into the hole -- but it only makes a small dent in the problem. 

 According to Bread for the World, the devastating cuts proposed on April 18 by the House Agriculture Committee to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would mean that every church in the country would have to come up with an additional $50,000 dedicated to feeding people every year for the next ten years.  Would you expect your church to do that?  I am writing to tell you that those resources simply are not there.

 Cuts to SNAP, particularly at a time of continued high unemployment and unprecedented need for food assistance, are a moral and spiritual injustice.  Last year, emergency food aid helped 46.5 million poor Americans.  Budget choices that cause food lines to grow longer during a time of great need are heartless.  Congress simply must continue helping hungry people in our nation.  Please form a circle of protection around funding for domestic nutrition programs, especially SNAP, that help meet the nutritional needs of millions of American families.

 Sincerely,