God Delivers, but We are Asked to Be Part of the Process

"For surely I know the plans I have for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope for you, says the Lord." Jeremiah 29:11

"When we hear God say through the prophets, For Surely, we believe and the Hebrews believed that this is a certainty...They never lost sight and never lost faith in the fact that God would ultimately deliver on God's promises to them."

"One of my favorite parables--It's recorded as a miracle in the Gospels--the feeding of the 5,000, the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. A Jesus scholar, John Dominic Crossen, shares that story, not as a miracle so much as a parable. What would happen if we take the loaves and the fishes or any resources that we have and actually bless them and then distribute them as a blessing of Jesus.

The people were invited to have all that they had in order to feed all who were there. And Jesus could have waived a hand. The miracle would have been that suddenly enough fishes and loaves appeared...But there's a process that requires our active participation. Jesus said, "Give me what you have.' They brought it forward, he blessed it, and then he said, "You go and distribute it, you do the work." Once they distributed it in accordance with Jesus wanted them to do, there was not only enough, but there was an abundance.  An abundance of sufficiency in baskets left over..."

Healing the Divide

Screenshots of Healing the Divide Session at Bread's 2020 Advocacy Summit. Moderated by regional organizers Clark Hansen (below) and Zach Schmidt. Some ideas drawn from “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion” by Jonathan Haidt.

Clark Hansen

Zach Schmidt

Diaspora, Advocacy and the Certainty that Things are not Right Yet

"For surely I know the plans I have for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope for you, says the Lord." Jeremiah 29:11

"Diaspora is the constant reminder that you are not at home.  Are you in the diaspora?...Those of us who believe in advocacy are people who know that we have not yet come home, that we are still in the diaspora. That there is still more to do for the city where the city where we live to prosper. We are a non-comformist people. That is why we knock (on) doors on the Hill, that is why we write our members of Congress. That is why we organize communities and individuals to speak out about hunger and poverty, because we are not there yet." 

"Verse 11 of Jeremiah 29 is healing.  For this strong sense of the diaspora that we are experiencing these days  That certainty that things are not right. That we cannot hear the dreams of certain prophets anymore. That the voice of the streets does not agree with the voice of the palace. That it's time for a change. And this is a constant invitation in the sacred test: Do not conform the pattern of this world.

"Gracias a Dios, Thanks be to God, we come to verse 11.  For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster. To give you a future and hope. "

A Bread Advocacy Summit in (Cyber) Space

During normal times, travel to Washington for Bread's national advocacy summit is costly and time-consuming. This means that only one or two (or in good years five) people attend the Bread event. But these are not normal times. The advocacy summit is taking place online on June 8-9, which means no need for air travel or lodging arrangements. So more of us can participate.

Lobby Day 2019

Sure, we'll miss interactions with Bread folks from California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, New York and other states. That is a bummer! And there won't be a Lobby Day reception at the Rayburn building with delicious ors d'oeuvres and chance to connect directly with congressional representatives from both parties. And that visit to the Smithsonian museums will have to wait until other trips.

However, this year's advocacy summit offers some worthwhile features. Workshops are still on the agenda, including pre-recorded and livestreamed sessions, as well as select opportunities to chat in real-time with workshop moderators and engage in virtual advocacy actions.

For us in New Mexico, we hope to connect with the offices of Reps. Deb Haaland, Xochitl Torres-Small and Ben Ray Lujan and Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich. We's love to have participation from all three New Mexico congressional districts.

Here is the schedule.

Monday, June 8

10 a.m. - 10:40 a.m. (MT)
Opening Message
Introduction of Clergy
Reflection and Prayer

11 a.m. - 11:45 p.m. (MT)
Healing the Divide

12:00 p.m. - 12:45 p.m. (MT)
Advocating Alone Together

1 p.m. - 2 p.m. (MT)
Latino Leaders Convening

5:30 p.m. - 6:28 p.m. (MT)
Pan African Consultation

6:30 p.m. (MT)
Closing Message

Tuesday, June 9

10 a.m. - 10:40 p.m. (MT)
Opening Message
Introduction of Clergy
Reflection and Prayer

11 a.m. - 12:45 a.m. (MT)
Legislative Briefing and Q&A

11:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (MT)
Closing Message/Send Off

12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. (MT)
Virtual Congressional Advocacy Action

4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. (MT)
Rick Steves Documentary Screening

5:30 p.m. - 6:15 p.m. (MT)
Q&A with Rick Steves

Now that you have the schedule, I urge you to consider participating. As of Friday, May 29, only two of us had registered. Since then, I heard from three others who said they would participate. Would you join us so we can have at least a dozen New Mexicans at the advocacy summit?

 Register Here

The Bread Activist Universe (Advocacy Summit 2019)

The trip to Washington for the Advocacy Summit was not only about lobbying Congress to support Global Nutrition resolutions, which are the subject of our 2019 Offering of Letters. The trip was about reunions with people I knew from Bread. Some attended the Bread activities, one participated in the CARE conference, and others just live in the Washington area. Here are some selfies and regular photos of those reunions.

Dawn Buller-Pierce (Idaho)

Angie Ruprock-Shaefer (Indiana), Derick Dailey (New York)

Brendan Rice (Washington, D.C.)

Daniel Erdman (Pennsylvania, formerly Albuquerque)

David Miner (Indiana), Beth Lepiniski (Wisconsin)

Art Simon (Maryland), Kimball Forrester (Alabama)

Kimberly Burge (Washington, D.C.)

Megan Mayle (Colorado)

Suzanne Farris, Tessa Farris (Maryland)

Suzanne Stigler Martin (Alabama)

Bud and Barbara Miller (Florida)

Advocating on Capitol Hill for a Global Nutrition Initiative

Recognizing the importance of sustained United States leadership to accelerating global progress against maternal and child malnutrition and supporting United States Agency for International Development's commitment to global nutrition through its multi-sectoral nutrition strategy. H.Res.189

Earlier this year, Rep. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Massachusetts)  submitted House Resolution 189 (H.Res.189). The measure was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and also to the Committee on Agriculture

In the Senate, Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Chris Coons of Iowa put together a similar measure, which had not been assigned a number as of Lobby Day.

The Resolution is closely linked with Bread for the Worlds' Offering of Letters, Better Nutrition, Better Tomorrow.

Lobby Day
On June 11, Lobby Day, Bread for the World members met with aides (and sometimes with actual legislators) to urge them to cosponsor the two initiatives, and some cases to thank them for already having done so.

On Lobby Day, I met with Mary Nugent at Rep. Debra Haaland's office and Jake Jackson at Rep. Xochitl Torres Small's office (and dropped a package of information by Rep. Ben Ray Lujan's office) to urge their bosses to cosponsor the resolution.

In the Senate, I met with Adriana Mares and Blair Hammond at Sen. Martin Heinrich's office, and with Clint Cowan at Sen. Tom Udall's office. I asked that our senators cosponsor the Collins-Coons resolution, which did not have a number as of that date.

In all my visits, I handed aides letters that were written by members of Central United Methodist Church. The letters created a real connection with constituents back home.

Stay tuned for updates and follow-up action, including visits to the local offices.

Upper Left to Right: Jake Jackson, Blair Hammond, Andrea Mares. Lower Left to Right:Mary Nugent, Clint Cowan

Lujan Grisham, Other House Members Promote Bill to Protect SNAP

Rep. Lujan Grisham (left) with local anti-hunger advocates

Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham and 42 other members of the House of Representatives have co-sponsored H.R. 1276, which would increase SNAP benefit amounts and ameliorate the harsh time limit on jobless adults willing to work. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, SNAP provided food benefits to a monthly average of 453,146 people in New Mexico in Fiscal 2015. A USDA analysis breaks down the benefits by congressional district.

Many of the co-sponsors of H.R. 1276 are members of the House Hunger Caucus, including Rep. Lujan Grisham and caucus co-chair Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts. We wish the list of co-sponsors was more bipartisan, but the reality is that we live in a deeply politically divided country.

H.R. 1276 is a bit of good news in the midst of very discouraging initiatives.  According to the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC),  there are efforts in Congress to block grant SNAP. Also, the The House Freedom Caucus is planning to push for changes to SNAP and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF) that would yield $400 billion in ten-year spending cuts as part of a tax reform bill, according to Politico

FRAC has put together an analysis of President Trump's budget proposal to cut $193 billion from SNAP over ten years. "These cuts, which would slash SNAP by an unprecedented 25 percent, will dismantle a proven and effective program that provides a path out of hunger and poverty, and leads to improved diet, learning, productivity, and health," FRAC said in a statement of opposition to the president's budget proposal.

Bread for the World Lobby Day
These developments are occurring just days before a group of about 400 members of Bread for the World prepare to visit congressional offices on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, June 13, for Lobby Day 2017.  Bread advocates will ask their members of the U.S. House and Senate to oppose any budget cuts that would increase hunger and poverty in the U.S. and around the world, to fully fund domestic safety-net and international development programs that end hunger and poverty. and to oppose harmful structural changes to SNAP , Medicaid, and international development assistance.

Larry and Ellen Buelow will be among the 400 advocates in Washington on Tuesday.  There is an opportunity for other New Mexico Bread members to participate. The first is simple: make a phone call to our congressional offices Washington on Tuesday. For those of you who live in Albuquerque, you can join us for our local Lobby Day visits on Friday, June 16. We have scheduled visits to the offices of Sen. Tom Udall and Rep. Lujan Grisham, and are working on an appointment with Sen. Martin Heinrich's office.  Here is more information about these two options.

David Beckmann Urges You to Participate in Lobby Day in 2017

The world and our country have been making progress against hunger and poverty in recent decades and then again over the last few years, but President Trump and 115th Congress are pushing for unprecedented cuts in all the US government programs that are crucial to ongoing progress against hunger.

Bread for the world and our members have been able to influence Congress in all kinds of political situations and we have never faced a political situation that is as challenging as what we face now.  -Rev. David Beckmann

In the video below, Bread for the World President David Beckmann makes an appeal for members and allies to attend Lobby Day in Washington on Tuesday, June 13. Lobby Day is an opportunity for Bread members and activists to communicate personally with their members of Congress and their staffs. When activists visit Capitol Hill in large numbers, at the same time, and all talk about the same issue, they have a better chance of being heard in their advocacy. The theme of this year's Lobby Day is "Doing Our Part: Advocating for an End to Hunger." That's the same theme as Bread's 2017 Offering of Letters, which focuses on urging Congress to make funding decisions that will end hunger by 2030 Register Here

Bread members Larry and Ellen Buelow from Albuquerque will be there. We are organizing local visits in New Mexico on the week of Lobby Day to coincide with the big lobbying effort in Washington. Stay tuned for more details.

Rick Steves: Exercise the Gift of Your American Citizenship by Advocating to End Hunger

We celebrate Independence Day and the gift of our American citizenship with this short video from travel writer Rick Steves (a Bread for the World member), who explains the importance of advocacy to end hunger.

Lobby Day 2016: The Scheduled Visits and the Drop-By's

At Sen. Tom Udall's office

At Sen. Martin Heinrich's office

As I handed my card to Sen. Tom Udall's aide, Lisa Van Theemske, she said, "Oh, you're Carlos. Ms. Sheely said I should talk to you if I have any questions." Ms. Van Theemske, a legislative correspondent for Sen. Udall, was referring to Pat Sheely, a Bread member in Gallup, New Mexico. The fact that Ms. Van Theemske remembered Pat Sheely's name is no small thing. This was evidence that the call and all the calls from our Bread activists in New Mexico were important to Sen. Udall's office.

Pat was one of 10 Bread members from New Mexico who volunteered to make calls to the Washington offices of Sen. Udall, Sen. Martin Heinrich, Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Rep. Ben Ray Lujan to support the face-to-face meetings that three of us (Larry Buelow, Ellen Buelow and I) had scheduled. Hundreds of Bread members around the country were making similar calls or visiting the local offices of legislators on Lobby Day.

'For us, the calls were very helpful as we asked our senators to invest $230 million in global nutrition programs (the subject of our 2016 Offering of Letters) and to pass a strong nutrition bill that closes the gap and connects hungry children with nutritious meals.

At Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham's office

Our only scheduled visit on the House side was with Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham. But we were aware that four people from the Third Congressional District (Pat Sheely from Gallup, Bro. Jim Brown from Santa Fe, Mary Singleton from Truchas and Stephanie Eagles from Cochiti Lake) had volunteered to call. So, on their behalf, we asked for a brief meeting with a legislative aide to Rep. Ben Ray Lujan.

A senior legislative aide, who needed to be on the floor in about five minutes, gave us three minutes to make our pitch. Support passage of the Senate version of the Global Food Security Act (S.1252) and actively oppose H.R. 5003, an initiative that would block grant school meals, which would make it more difficult for tens of thousands of children to access nutritions meals at schools and during the summer months. We received strong assurances from the aides to Rep. Lujan Grisham and Lujan that they were very supportive of our asks. (Both supported the earlier House version of the GFSA).

We also dropped by Rep. Steve Pearce's office, where we left a packet of information about the bills.  We were received in a very cordial manner, but the aide who would have been in charge of the issues for which we were advocating was out of the office. And Larry was able to reconnect with an old friend from the Air Force, who has worked in a senior role in Rep. Pearce's office for many years. All in all, a fairly good Lobby Day for Bread in New Mexico.

Lobby Day 2015 and the International Spy Museum

There. I got your attention with the headline. One had nothing to do with each other besides the fact that the two were part of my activities during a recent trip to Washington, D.C.

Slide from Lobby Day briefing

I was the lone representative from New Mexico on Lobby Day this year, and the visits went well (as expected). The staffs from Sen. Tom Udall, Sen. Martin Heinrich and Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham were cordial, attentive and engaged (I also dropped off packets to the offices of Rep. Steve Pearce and Rep. Ben Ray Lujan).

We usually go into a visit with a single request; sometimes with two. This year, There were three requests we made to staff of our legislators:

• Support the Summer Meals Act of 2015 (HR 1728 and S. 613)
• Cosponsor and pass the Global Food Security Act (HR 1567 and S. 1252), which would make permanent the U.S. food and nutrition security program, Feed the Future.
• Prevent cuts to programs that invest in children in the U.S. and around the world. Pass a budget deal that addresses sequestration.

Stefanie Casdorph, a Bread for the World communications intern this summer, joined me for the visit with Alma Acosta, legislative assistant for Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham.  Below are photographs with aides to Sens. Udall and Heinrich.

Here are a couple morephotographs that I took with the aides:

With Eli Greenspan (Sen. Heinrich)

With Lisa Van Theemske (Sen. Udall)

Okay, since I mentioned the Spy Museum, here are a couple of photos:

The briefcase recorder

Lobby Day 2015 (Part 2) Get Your Smart Phones Ready

Meeting with Sen. Heirnich's staff in 2013

As of Saturday morning, June 6, Lobby Day visits scheduled with more than 50 members of the U.S. Senate and almost 80 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. This list is likely to grow slightly between now and June 9, which is when Bread grassroots members, staff and Hunger Justice Leaders will be on Capitol Hill to meet with staff (and possibly the legislators themselves)

Studies have consistently revealed that constituents personally visiting their members of Congress is often the tipping point to get support for a bill, in this case to strengthen national children’s nutrition programs like school lunches and WIC.

Lobby Day will include a request to Congress to protect and expand child nutrition programs, which is the theme of Bread’s 2015 Offering of Letters.

Because of distance, schedules, etc..., most bread members from Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces and other communities in New Mexico won't be traveling to Washington for Lobby Day. The next best option is to pick up your smart phone or your land phone and call Washington. 

Here's how you can participate from outside the beltway...
On Monday, June 8, or Tuesday, June 9, please take a couple of minutes to make a call to your own representative (Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Rep. Steve Pearce, Rep Ben Ray Lujan) and Sen. Tom Udall and Sen. Martin Heinrich. Identify yourself as a Bread for the World member

Ask  your representative and each senator to:

1) Support the summer meals act (House Bill 1728  Senate Bill 613)
This initiative  gives hungry children access to meals during the summer months, like the Summer Meals Act.  Read background

2) Co-sponsor the Global Food Security Act and make Feed the Future permanent
Just last week, the Senate introduced S. 1252, The Global Food Security Act. This legislation makes permanent the U.S.’s food security program, Feed the Future. It also calls for a first-ever comprehensive U.S. strategy to address hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.
Read more background

3) Protect child nutrition programs and prevent cuts in the budget and pass a budget deal that eliminates sequestration
This third ask is the one that deals most directly with our 2015 Offering of Letters. Bread sent an action alert on this earlier this week.  Here is some background (beyond what you already know from this year's Offering of Letters).

These are exactly the same requests that Bread for the World participants will make during their meetings with legislative aides on Tuesday.

Here are the phone numbers:

• Sen. Tom Udall (202) 224-6621
• Sen. Martin Heinrich, (202) 224-5521 
• Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (202) 225-6316
• Rep. Steve Pearce (202) 225-2365
• Rep. Ben Ray Lujan,  (202) 225-6190

Thank you for joining me on Lobby Day!

'You Look Like that Guy Who is the Travel Writer!'

Chatting  with Sen. Tom Harkin at  Bread for the World's Lobby Day reception

(Rick Steves, travel writer and host of a travel show on PBS, welcomed participants to Bread for the World's National Gathering in Washington on June 9  He also introduced Bread for the World President David Beckmann. Here are some excerpts from Mr. Steves' remarks).

Welcome to the 40th Anniversary of Bread for the World. My name is Rick Steves, I'm a travel writer, and some of you might know me from my public television show about traveling around Europe. Someone [sitting at my table], said "You look like that guy who is the travel writer..." A lot of people say that...

Right now I'm one of thousands of Christian Americans who really see Bread for the World, not as a charity but as a service. Together, we want to fight hunger, and Bread for the World represents that, and does our work right here in Washington, D.C.

I'm honored to kick off a day that promises to be exciting and inspirational. In the morning, we're going  to have talks by David Beckmann, John Podesta and other inspirational leaders, the theme being Working Together to End Hunger, and how that's actually realistic.

In the afternoon, we'll have a series of three TED style lectures on compelling and timely topics. One of them is immigration and what that has to do with hunger. Another is returning citizens--this idea of mass incarceration in our society, and how we can prepare ex-felons to rejoin our community and not fall into the ranks of hungry people, which is such a big problem these days. Another very timely topic is sustainable food security in the face of climate change.

A conversation with  Bread advocate Sandra Joireman 

A Bread member for 30 years
For 30 years, I've been a member of Bread for the World, and I just think it is so interesting how people manage to get involved and caught up in the excitement of Bread for the World. We're a nation of 300-plus million people. There are a lot of good and caring people, and right here we have quite an elite crowd.

What is it that gets us involved in recognizing the value of Bread for the World? I happen to be a travel writer. I've spent one-third of my adult life living out of a 9-by-22-by-14 inch carry-on-the- airplane suitcase. I've spent a lot of times far away from the United States looking back at our country. What I find interesting is that we can learn a lot about our country by leaving it and looking at it from another perspective. We are a compassionate nation, but we often have a tough time grappling between the gap between rich and poor, between the well-fed and the hungry. And a lot of us are conveniently blind to that reality.

"We can learn a lot about our country by leaving it and looking at it from another perspective."

The influence of Art Simon's book
I was one of those people. I was blissfully ignorant until two things happened. When I was a student somebody gave me a copy of Bread for the World, the book by Art Simon. And then I spent a lot of time traveling.

I had a feeling deep inside of me that something was wrong, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I wanted to know what was the economic foundation of structural poverty, and Bread for the World explained that to me. There is enough food on this planet to feed everybody. Every country produces enough food to feed its own people.  But there are challenges. There are structural bases to poverty. There's cash cropping: the whole notion that if you're a rich elite in a developing country, and you want to get a return on your land, you don't grow rice and beans to feed local people, you grow fancy stuff to sell to rich countries. And then your local people don't have rice and beans. This is very fundamental, but beyond the grasp of average Americans.

Posing with New Mexico advocates

There's Third World debt. I'm happy to work hard and prosper. But I don't want to prosper on the backs of desperate people. Forty countries on this planet have a debt that is so big that half of their national budget goes to paying interest to the First World. That's the slavery of our generation. I want to know about that. It's not convenient, but I want to know about it. I learned about it from Bread for the World.

There is the reality of unbridled capitalism. I am an enthusiastic capitalist, but I know that if you have capitalism not bounded with government and compassionate regulation--it causes a lot of trouble. In unbridled capitalism, my domestc cat has more buying power than some child in Guatemala. When you travel, you meet that child in Guatemala, and you understand that there is a reality here. When you travel, you see the reality, you recognize that suffering across the sea is just as real as suffering across the street.

"Forty countries on this planet have a debt that is so big that half of their national budget goes to paying interest to the First World. That's the slavery of our generation."

Globe at Library of Congress

Travel as a political act
Something interesting and striking to me is that there is a lot of love on this planet. And love across the sea is just as beautiful and real as love across the street. One of the most powerful experiences and revelations I had on my travels was on my very first trip. I was 14 years old visiting relatives in Norway with my parents. I was in Oslo behind the Great Palace, in a garden filled with Norwegian families. And I looked down and I saw that garden was filled with parents loving their children just as enthusiastically as my parents were loving me. And then it occurred to me, Wow!, this world is filled with billions of people who are children of God. That is a beautiful revelation. And when you study, you realize that half of those children are tyring to live on $2 a day. And when you travel, it humanizes that reality.

For me, travel can be a political act. After my travels, and after my studies of the issues presented by Bread for the World, I step into a voting booth with the notion that I'm not going to vote for what is good for my short-term financial interest. Instead, I want to vote as a a compassionate Christian, voting for what's important for struggling and desperate people. And I do so with the knowledge that whoever wins this election has a greater impact south of our border than it does on me. That's not noble, that's just enlightened. That's Art Simon enlightened.

People will tell you that there is not just not enough money [to address global poverty]. That is baloney!  There is more money than ever, but there are mixed-up priorities. That's something we can share with our legislators, that's something we can share with our neighbors and loved ones.

Derick Dailey: Partners with a God of Hope

A Biblical generation is 40 years. And that sums up what this national gathering is partly about. We come to celebrate a generation of grace...You, Art Simon and others paved the way, we crafted a vision, we began the work,  God blessed that work, and today we give thanks to God for your ministry. Yet, we're well aware that the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and dream has not died--the dream of ending hunger and poverty around the globe.

And now a new generation of hunger activists and advocates are on the scene, and we must join the race.  We must catch the vision--a vision to end extreme hunger and poverty by 2030.  So we stand today asking God, "Will we too become a generation of grace?"...

The Good News is that we're partners with a God that is today and is always a God of hope not hopelessness. Not a God of scarcity, but a God of more than enough. Not a God of foreclosure, but a God with arms big enough and wide enough for everyone.   

-Derick Dailey (excerpts from  his opening sermon at the Bread for the World National Gathering in Washington on June 9, 2014  #breadrising)
 

(Derick Dailey is a former graduate student at Yale University. He currently serves as secretary on the board of directors of Bread for the World. He was a member of the 2013 Global Ecumenical Theological Institute-North America that traveled to South Korea for the World Council of Churches assembly.  He is a former Teach for America Corps member in the Mississippi Delta and has a B.A. in political science and religious studies from Westminster College in Fulton, MO)

Lobby Day is More than Just "Lobby Day"

Colorado & New Mexico advocates at Hart Senate Building

Hundreds of congregations around the country wrote about food-aid reform this year, which set the stage for a very important action: a simple vote on agricultural appropriations on Wednesday, June 11. 

Two days before the vote, hundreds of calls were also logged into the congressional offices on Virtual Lobby Day on Monday, June 9, urging our members of Congress to improve our federal programs that provide direct and emergency assistance.  

And on Lobby Day itself, Bread advocates from 34 states and the District of Columbia visited the offices of their elected officials in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate to make the same request. For good measure, I visited the office of Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday morning, June 11, to ask for her support for  the amendment once it came to a vote on the floor.

Award for Rep. Bachus

Amendment Announced at Lobby Day Reception
Bread for the World honored five legislators at a reception at the end of Lobby Day. Three legislators--Rep. Spencer Bachus, a Republican from  Alabama; Sen. Tom Harkin, a Democrat from  Iowa; and Rep. Frank Wolf, a Republican from Virginia--were honored with an award that recognized their efforts to address hunger and poverty during their congressional careers. (All three are set  to retire at the end of their current term).

Two other legislators  were also honored at the Lobby Day reception for their work on food-aid reform. Rep. Ed Royce of California and Rep. Eliot Engel of New York. Royce, a Republican is chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Engel, a Democrat, is the minority leader in the same committee.

David Beckmann & Rep. Ed Royce

When Rep. Royce took the podium after receiving an award, he described the strong bipartisan efforts in the committee. And then he made a very important announcement. He was set to introduce an amendment the next day he would sponsor a bipartisan amendment during debate on the House fiscal year 2015 agricultural appropriations bill to to provide funding for the USDA Local and Regional Purchase (LRP) program. This would help more people receive U.S. food aid at no additional cost. The LRP program was reauthorized at $80 million in the in the 2014 farm bill.  The amendment passed!  Read more in the Bread blog.

The amendment was apparently approved via a voice vote, so we have no record on how Reps. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Rep. Steve Pearce and Rep. Ben Ray Lujan voted. We met twice with Rep. Lujan Grisham.  On Lobby Day, Larry and Ellen Buelow and I met with one of her legislative assistants to discuss food-aid reform and immigration reform. On Wednesday, with the knowledge that the vote on the amendment was pending, I returned to her office in Cannon House Building to talk to her aide in charge of foreign affairs and urge support for the amendment.  Larry, Ellen and I did not meet with aides to Rep. Pearce and Rep. Lujan on Lobby Day, since none of us is a constituent.  But we dropped off materials about food-aid reform and immigration reform in both offices.

At Sen. Udall's  constituent coffee

And we had two opportunities to bring up food-aid reform to Sen. Udall. On Lobby Day, we met with two of his legislative assistants at Hart Senate building, and on Wednesday morning, Larry, Ellen and I attended the constituent coffee, where we brought the issue up directly to the senator. (And we also spoke about the emerging Interfaith Hunger Coalition in New Mexico). 

The constituent coffees offer great networking opportunities. We were able to make connections with some members of the New Mexico Public Health Association.

On Lobby Day, we also met with a legislative aide at Sen. Martin Heinrich's office, which is also in the Hart Building.

More from the New Mexico Grassroots
As of June 13, New Mexico congregations had written nearly 800 letters to Sen. Udall, Sen. Heinrich, Rep. Lujan Grisham, Rep. Pearce and Rep. Lujan about food-aid reform. One letter-writer, Kirsten Marr, at First Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque, took time to write additional letters to key legislators. One of those letters went to Rep. Royce and the other to Rep. Frank Lucas, chair of the House Agriculture Committee.  Kirsten was in charge of organizing the letter-writing efforts at First Presbyterian Church (which held its inaugural Offering of Letters this year!)

And there was also  good participation from folks in New Mexico on Virtual Lobby Day. I want to thank Lynette Rose, Bro. Jim Brown, Chris Spahn, Javier Aceves, Karla Ice, Art Meyer, Kathy Freeze, Ivan Westergaard, Pat Sheely, and Lucretia Tippit for making calls and/or keeping us in their prayers. (A number of those calls went to Rep. Ben Ray Lujan!)

A Collage of Bread for the World Birthday Celebrations

Cake courtesy of  Beth Nygaard

Just Past the Teen Years
I have celebrated a handful of Bread for the World birthdays over the years.The first one was very low key, and it was not in Washington but in Albuquerque. As part of our joint conference with the Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry (which is now Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-New Mexico), we decided to observe Bread's 20th birthday with a cake. We honored many long-time Bread members, including Brother Jim Brown, who had been a Bread member since the organization was founded. David Beckmann, who was relatively new to Bread at the time, gave the keynote address.

Hunger Heroes (Photo Bread for the World)

At Age 30: The Hunger Heroes
Fast forward 10 years to Bread 's 30th birthday. This is one of the most memorable ones for me personally.  I was among one of 30 hunger heroes who were honored that year. How awesome to have one's name mentioned in the same breath as Bono, George McGovern, and Bob Dole.? Alas, none of those VIPs was there. But it was truly awesome to share the day with Bread co-founder Bill Byron, S.J., and fellow advocates Elaine VanCleave, Cathy Brechtelsbauer and Ed Payne.

And we had our own 30th birthday celebration in Albuquerque that year, and Father Bill Byron was gracious enough to join us at Immanuel Presbyterian Church. He delivered a wonderful keynote address. This celebration was a joint activity with the New Mexico Conference of Churches.

Marty Haugen sings to Bread

A Song for Bread on its 35th
One of the highlights of Bread's 35th birthday was the presence of. singer-composer Marty Haugen wrote a special song in honor of Bread for the World. And  Bill Moyers (who couldn't be with us in person) spoke to us via a recoded message.  And we honored two anti-hunger, anti-poverty advocates who helped build up Bread: former board members Maria Otero and Eleanor Crook. These types of milestone celebrations also offer opportunities for a reunion.  Among the folks I saw were ex-government relations director Barbara Howell and former organizer Bob Schminkey.

Participants Welcomed

A Bread Rising Campaign for the 40th
Which brings me to Bread's 40th birthday. This celebration is fresh on my mind because it just happened less than a week ago. And a prominent individual joined us for this celebration: travel writer and television host Rick Steves. A big highlight was the opportunity to hear Bread for the World founder Art Simon.  Even though I see him often at Bread board meetings, it's always very good to hear his input on the ways that the organization has remained true to its core mission and yet adapted to modern realities over the past 40 years.

Another highlight was the opening sermon by my friend Derick Dailey, who set the tone for the gathering with a wonderful reflection. And, again, it was a time for reunions. I saw Kim Bobo, one of Bread's first directors of organizing. I hadn't seen her since the 1980s!   (We hope to have our own Bread 40th birthday celebration n Albuquerque sometime this fall. More info to come soon)

What makes this year's birthday celebration important is that it marked the launch of our new campaign Bread Rising: Working Together to End Hunger by 2030.  There are three components to the campaign:

• Pray -Commit yourself to ongoing prayer for the end of hunger
• Act -Redouble your commitment ot adovacy
• Give- Provide the resources to leverage big changes

(Stay tuned for more specific information)

Rather than spend a lot of words describing the gathering, I would like to share a handful of pictures here.  (And feel free to view my album on Facebook via this link. You do not have to have a FB connection with me to view the album).

Rick Steves & board chair Sandra Joireman

Timeline 1974-2014

Advocates Megan Marsh & Derick Dailey

Daniel Erdman, Ellen Buelow, Carlos Navarro, Larry Buelow, David Beckmann