When the Governor Invites You to Lunch...and You're Fasting

Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard. Isaiah 58:6-8

“Every meal I’ll miss for the next 16 days represents roughly a million meals in jeopardy for Hoosier children, seniors and veterans if the drastic cuts being debated in Congress now become reality.. I have a plan to fast safely. My decision to undertake what I know will be a difficult task is my own choice, while our most vulnerable neighbors could go hungry through no choice of their own. I feel strongly that people of conscience should speak out, in whatever way they feel moved to do so. This is one way I have chosen.” Dave Miner

On September 21, Bread for the World activist David Miner began a 16-day fast to shine the spotlight on the plight of a million residents of Indiana who are at risk of hunger and the potential loss of millions of meals if Congress passes dramatic cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).  

There was a remarkable coincidence with timing of Miner's fast. The state Hunger Network, which includes the Central Indiana Bread team, had worked for six months to schedule a meeting with Gov. Eric Holcomb. They succeeded in securing a lunch meeting with the governor. There was one problem with the governor's lunch invitation (a good problem), and you know what that problem was."Dave sat next to the Gov during the lunch -- in front of an empty plate -- while everyone else ate their meal," said fellow Indiana Bread advocate Angie Ruprock-Schafer.

“This is a national issue with a very intimate impact; we all likely know people who wake up many days without enough money or food to feed their families, or children who routinely go to bed hungry — but we don’t realize we know them," Miner said on the day he started the fast. “There’s a hidden aspect of hunger and poverty that’s staggering. The overwhelming number of individuals and families who find themselves in these circumstances is why I’ve felt called to undertake this fast as a personal act of public advocacy. I urge anyone who’s committed to ending hunger to contact our U.S. Senators and their congressional representative today.”

Here is how Miner determined the formula by which residents of Indiana would be affected.

$150 billion cut to SNAP over 10 years <= approved House budget resolution
Divide by $3 per meal = 50 billion meals
Divide by 10 = 5 billion meals per year Indiana is an average state,
Divide by 50 = 100 million meals lost in Indiana per year
Divide by 2 = 50 million meals per year
(over half of SNAP benefits go to kids, vets and seniors)

We have not heard yet  what type of impression Miner's fast  made on Gov. Holcomb. However, there is no way to ignore the message.

"I pray that eating next to a man fasting for the least of our sisters and brothers, made an impact on Governor Holcomb. And, may Dave's faith-filled leadership be a model for us all," said Ruprock-Schafer.

(P.S.  I invite you to look closely at the chart above of the 10 hungriest states.  New Mexico ranks fourth behind Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. So those cuts in SNAP would have a major negative impact on the residents of our state).