Hunger can be eliminated in United States, speaker says
7/17/2001 News media contact: Tim Tanton · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn.
NOTE: This report may be used as a sidebar to UMNS story #315. Photographs are available.
By Tim Tanton*
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (UMNS) - The fight against hunger is a front-and-center issue for the United Methodist Men.
The 4,000 men attending the 8th International UMMen Congress at Purdue University heard challenges to increase support for the anti-hunger campaign being waged by their churchwide commission. The Commission on United Methodist Men, the Society of St. Andrew and the United Methodist Committee on Relief are partners in a program to put a hunger relief advocate in every one of the denomination's annual conferences.
"We know, and I hope you know, that eliminating hunger in the United States is something that God wants us to do," said the Rev. Ken Horne, during the opening session of the July 13-15 congress. He is executive director of the Society of St. Andrew, a hunger relief ministry based in Big Island, Va. "We can truly end hunger in the United States."
Every day, 32 million Americans don't know where their next meal will come from, according to a video that was shown to the men. And every year, Americans throw away 96 billion pounds of food, the video reported, citing figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Horne urged the men to pray for the initiative, to financially support it, and to get involved personally by learning about hunger and poverty in their districts. The initiative will need $1 million to be fully implemented, he said.
Hunger relief advocates are active in 11 conferences, and by next July, there will probably be about 10,000 United Methodist men working to end hunger in the United States, Horne said.
He called on the men to consider becoming challenge disciples by pledging $50 a year to the program, or making their groups back home challenge fellowships by pledging $200.
Evangelist Tony Campolo, who spoke shortly afterward, reinforced Horne's message. He urged the men to make the $200 commitment that night. "We could raise $2 million here tonight without snapping a finger," he said.
"You don't have to fill that out tonight, but if you don't, I hope the elastic in your underwear snaps before you get to the dormitory," Campolo said.
As of July 15, the commitments were at $54,860 "and counting."
A few hours before the congress opened, about 30 men spent the morning at a farm north of Lafayette, gleaning food for needy people in the area. The men, who had come from around the United States, gleaned raspberries, beans and peas at Earthcraft Farm, where more than 20 different kinds of organic produce are raised.
"I'm out here this morning to give back a little bit, what I can, to people in need," said Birch Coston, a member of Christ United Methodist Church in Lafayette. He took two days off work to participate in the gleaning project and attend the congress. He was glad to have the opportunity to serve others, he said. "That's more important than what you can do for yourself."
Nearby, Shawn Jackson was filling a bucket full of snap peas. "I enjoy this kind of work," said Jackson, who runs a business and does legal research and computer work back home in Bluefield, W. Va. Jackson is a member of Grace United Methodist Church.
Jim Rose, who owns Earthcraft with his wife, Signe Waller, was glad to have the United Methodist Men gleaning his produce. "This is wonderful," he said. "For me, the alternative is to plow it under ... but if it can feed somebody hungry, all the better."
The men gleaned 38 pints of raspberries, 100 pounds of green beans and 60 to 80 pounds of peas. The produce was taken to Food Finders, a food pantry for the needy in Lafayette. The United Methodist Men and the Society of St. Andrew, which cosponsored the gleaning project, also provided a load of potatoes to Food Finders.
Having the gleaning ministry at the United Methodist Men's congress was important because it raised awareness of hunger issues, as well as farming and agricultural issues, said Del Ketcham, national hunger relief advocate for the Society of St. Andrew.
The project also shows that men in large or small churches can do something about hunger, he said. "Two men can do things about hunger." # # # *Tanton is news editor for United Methodist News Service.
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