Take Action
As people of faith, we have a strong tradition of helping those who are less fortunate. But soup kitchens and shelters are only short-term solutions. Our efforts to sustain our brothers and sisters living in poverty must be complemented with a serious plan of action from our political leaders to reduce the number of needy. And so, from October 27 – November 6, 2011, Fighting Poverty with Faith will be “Working Together to End Hunger.” We encourage individuals and communities to plan a Food Stamp Challenge and/or Fighting Poverty with Faith Oxfam Hunger Banquet to educate and advocate for an end to hunger in the United States.
REGISTER TO PARTICIPATE IN THE FOOD STAMP CHALLENGE
Join us today by participating in the Food Stamp Challenge – a challenge to live for 1 week on the average food stamp allotment. Leaders and community members across the nation are taking the Food Stamp Challenge in order to help them better understand how the program works on a personal level and to highlight the continued need for and importance of feeding programs to alleviate hunger in the United States.
For one week, from Thursday, October 27th through Thursday, November 3rd, participants will live on the nationwide average food stamp benefit. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is responsible for administering the Food Stamp Program, the nationwide average weekly benefit in FY 2010 was $31.50 – this translates to $4.50 per day, or $1.50 per meal. Click here to learn more.
–> Download the Fighting Poverty with Faith “Food Stamp Challenge Toolkit” for great resources about planning a Food Stamp Challenge including a how-to guide, background on the Challenge, FAQs, media resources, ideas for complementary community events, advocacy opportunities, and more! The Food Stamp Challenge Toolkit is available as a PDF and as a Word document.
–>Email your friends and family, and ask them to take the Food Stamp Challenge and/or other actions to help reduce hunger in the United States! Click here for a template email.
–>Hold a screening of the documentary “Food Stamped” to bring additional community and media attention to your Food Stamp Challenge. Learn more about this documentary here.
PLAN A HUNGER BANQUET IN YOUR COMMUNITY!
The Fighting Poverty with Faith Oxfam Hunger Banquet program is a unique and memorable event that allows organizers and participants alike to experience firsthand how our decisions affect others in the United States.
Here’s how it works: Guests draw tickets at random that assign them each to either a high-, middle-, or low income group– based on the latest statistics about the number of people living in poverty in the United States. Each income level receives a corresponding meal: The 20 percent in the high-income group are served a sumptuous, healthy meal; the 40 percent in the middle-income group eat a simple meal of spaghetti and soda; and the 40 percent in the low-income group help themselves to small portions of white bread and water.
Guests can also assume characterizations that describe the situation of a specific person at the income level to which they’ve been assigned. Finally, all the guests are invited to share their thoughts after the meal and to take action and advocate to fight poverty with faith.
–> Download the Fighting Poverty with Faith Oxfam “Hunger Banquet Toolkit” for great resources about planning a Fighting Poverty with Faith Hunger Banquet, including a how-to guide for organizers, a sample Hunger Banquet script, sample identities for each income level, tips from communities and experts who’ve used this program previously, tips for planning a low-budget Hunger Banquet, opportunities for Fighting Poverty with Faith-focused advocacy at the end of of the program, and more! The Hunger Banquet Toolkit is available as a PDF and as a Word document in both .doc/Word 2003 and .docx/Word 2007 formats.
**Hunger Banquet® is a registered service mark of Oxfam America, Inc. (http://www.oxfamamerica.org ), an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice. The Fighting Poverty with Faith Oxfam Hunger Banquet program and Oxfam America Hunger Banquet materials have been adapted by Fighting Poverty with Faith with the express permission of Oxfam America. For more information about Oxfam America Hunger Banquet events, please visit http://actfast.oxfamamerica.org/index.php/events/banquet.**
By speaking out collectively this, we will expand the national conversation on the need to end hunger, protect critical programs, and produce policies that engender economic opportunity. We will do this with the aim of spurring our political leadership to more aggressively pursue an anti-poverty agenda.
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Fighting Poverty with Faith event resources 2010 – Do No Harm, Promote Economic Opportunity
As a leader on the local level, you can become a part of Fighting Poverty with Faith by organizing an event or campaign. There are so many ways to raise up issues of poverty in your community! Listed below are some ideas and resources for planning your activism as part of the 2010 Fighting Poverty with Faith mobilization. Don’t forget, once you’ve planned your event, to upload the details to our event calendar.
Getting Started
As a first step in the planning process, read this memo from the Fighting Poverty with Faith steering committee. It is full of programming ideas. Once you’ve completed that, please look below for resources specific to individual types of events.
Writing Op-Eds
Placing a poverty-focused opinion editorial in your local newspaper is great way to raise the profile of poverty issues in your community. In the hopes of assisting those interested, Fighting Poverty with Faith has drafted a sample op-ed on which you may base yours. It can be found here: Sample FPWF Op-Ed
For those interested in working with experienced media professionals on an opinion piece, the Coalition on Human Needs is offering such an opportunity. To learn more, please e-mail Maricela Donahue by clicking on her name.
Candidate Forums (Host Your Own or Ask Questions at a Public Event)
Poverty-focused candidate questions written by Fighting Poverty with Faith
Tips for Attending a Town Hall Meeting or Candidate Forum (aka “bird-dogging”) from RESULTS
Many non-profit organizations have questions about getting involved in politics and elections. Below you can read through two guides for non-profit organizations that provide guidelines and best practices for events you may be planning during election season, including candidates forums and voter registration drives:
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Election Guide: Called to Be a Public Church
Jewish Council for Public Affairs’ Guide for Election Year Practices: Jewish Values in Action
National Council of Jewish Women’s Election Guide: Promote the Vote, Protect the Vote
In the same vein, here is a sample candidate questionnaire created by the Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco
Poverty Simulation Materials
Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS) Website
CAPS Brochure
This program, created by the Missouri Association for Community Action (MACA), is a powerful tool. On their informative website, listed above, you may purchase a kit. Alternatively, in most states there are individuals or organizations that already own the kit and will come conduct the simulation with you. MACA is happy to help connect you to people in your state who can do this.
Get Press For Your Event
FPWF hosted a webinar on September 14 that detailed strategies for attracting the media to your community’s FPWF events. To view the Powerpoint slides from that webinar, please click here. Additionally, you may download an event-planning checklist (with reminders for gaining press attention) by clicking here.
Contact Your Local Officials
Find your Elected Officials
Your representatives will be home in their districts often as election season approaches and you can set up meetings with them to share with them the goals of Fighting Poverty with Faith. As their constituent, you have the power to convince your officials that voters care strongly about human needs programs and job creation legislation.
