Alicia Sedillo and Debbie Ruiz: Albuquerque's Hunger Justice Leaders

We are proud to announce that Alicia Sedillo and Debbie Ruiz of Albuquerque were among the 74 young people selected for Bread for the World's Hunger Justice Leaders program this summer.  Alicia (right) and Debbie (left) were among more than 400 people (ages 20 to 30) who applied for the program, which will take place June 12-15.

They will have a very busy schedule over the four-day period, including workshops, strategy sessions, social events and some very interesting speakers like Alexie Torres-Fleming, executive director, Youth Ministries for Peace & Justice. Ms. Torres-Fleming gave a powerful and touching reflection at the Emerging Church Conference in Albuquerque in April 2008.  

Alicia and Debbie will visit the offices of Sen. Jeff Bingaman, Sen. Tom Udall and Rep. Martin Heinrich on Lobby Day on Tuesday, June 15, to urge our three elected officials to support efforts in Congress to change U.S. tax policy in a way that will benefit low-income families.  This is the subject of our 2010 Offering of Letters.. 

Both our Hunger Justice Leaders are recent graduates of the University of New Mexico.  Over the past year, Alicia has worked as an intern with the social justice office at the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.  Debbie has been active in social concerns at St. Bernadette Parish.  

Both recently participated in programs sponsored by JustFaith.  Alicia went through the full-year course with the group at St. Joseph on the Rio Grande parish, while Debbie took part in the Justice Walking program (the abbreviated college version) through Aquinas Newman Center campus ministry.

Congratulations to Alicia and Debbie!  We look forward to hearing about your experiences.