By Joyce Rothermel

This year’s annual Bread for the World Advocacy Workshop, originally scheduled for April 19, was postponed due to the pandemic’s guidelines restricting public gatherings in Pittsburgh. The delay has opened up an opportunity to invite Rev. Eugene Cho to be with us for our first virtual workshop (a Zoom event) on Saturday, May 30 from 1:30 – 3 PM. Rev. Cho, the new president-elect of Bread for the World, will introduce himself to the SW PA Bread Team and all workshop attendees and provide an update on the current efforts of Bread for the World,the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and how our Pittsburgh Bread Team and network of congregations can help. This year’s Bread for the World focus is twofold: global nutrition for mothers and young children and domestic child nutrition programs reauthorization. 

Other speakers at this year’s workshop will be Ann Sanders from Just Harvest, who will provide details on the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, Sam Applefield from the Pittsburgh Food Policy Council, who will provide an overview of the Pittsburgh Food Policy Council’s Strategic Plan, and Linda Ambroso, who will provide tips for effective congressional office visits. 

Participants will receive information about Bread’s annual Lobby Day on June 9, which will be virtual this year. 

Those interested in participating in the May 30 advocacy workshop are invited to register at bread2020. eventbrite.com. Please extend the invitation to other interested members of your own congregations. 

What Is Bread for the World? 

Bread for the World is a collective Christian voice urging our nation’s decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad. By changing policies, programs, and conditions that allow hunger and poverty to persist, we provide help and opportunity far beyond the communities where we live. We can end hunger in our time. Everyone, including our government, must do their part. With the stroke of a pen, policies are made that redirect millions of dollars and affect millions of lives. By making our voices heard in Congress, we make our nation’s laws more fair and compassionate to people in need. 

Bread for the World members write personal letters and emails and meet with our members of Congress. Working through our churches, campuses, and other organizations, we engage more people in advocacy. Each year, Bread for the World invites churches across the country to take up a nationwide Offering of Letters to Congress on an issue that is important to hungry and poor people. As a non-profit, Bread for the World works in a bipartisan way. Our network of thousands of individual members, churches, and denominations ensures Bread’s presence in all U.S. congressional districts. Together, we build the political commitment needed to overcome hunger and poverty. 

The SW PA Bread for the World Team is a regional Bread for the World Chapter. The Bread Team meets periodically at Christian Associates of SW PA located at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. We host an annual Bread for the World Workshop in the spring and promote the annual offering of letters in area Christian Churches and Congregations, meet with the US Senators and Representatives in their local offices, and attend the annual Bread for the World Lobby Day in early June. 

Joyce Rothermel serves as co-chair of the SW PA Bread for the World Team and is a current board member of Bread for the World. 

NewPeople Newspaper VOL. 50 No. 4. May/June, 2020. All rights reserved.