Please join us in supporting farm communities around the world as they work to grow their own food in a lasting way.
Adventist Development & Relief Agency (ADRA)
ADRA’s mission is to work with people in poverty and distress to create positive change and justness through empowering partnerships and responsible action.
ADRA is an extensive international development and relief agency in 120 countries. For decades, ADRA has been at work around the globe, helping people overcome poverty, disease, illiteracy, and suffering that results from natural and manmade disasters. Long after the camera lights have dimmed, ADRA remains at the scene of suffering, often maintaining programs for years, until real progress has been made and problems have been resolved.
Every project speaks to our key principle of development: sustainability. Rather than providing only temporary relief, ADRA works with local people and local governments to create enduring, productive solutions. We build connections that we know will last. Knowledge that will remain with the community, skills that will lead to economic improvement for the long term, and local ownership of resources and facilities.
Because we manage for result, our projects are based on direct community assessments. We work with what exists. We base our services on the needs and hopes of those we serve. We look for opportunities to make measurable, quantitative change.
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904
Ken Flemmer
ken.flemmer@adra.org
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the official international relief and development agency of the U.S. Catholic church. The agency works to alleviate human suffering, promote the development of all people, and foster solidarity and justice throughout the world. Without regard to race, creed or nationality, CRS serves the poor in 99 countries through emergency relief and developmental programs in agriculture, health, HIV, education, microfinance and peace building. CRS is a member of the Foods Resource Bank.
The agency was established as “War Relief Services” in 1943 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to aid refugees displaced by war. In 1955, the agency became known as “Catholic Relief Services”. Today, CRS has 4,000 staff overseas and 400 at Baltimore headquarters.
CRS has an A+ rating from The American Institute of Philanthropy, and it is ranked 29th in Non-Profit Times Top 100. Its operating revenue in FY 2005 was over $690 million, with less than 6% spent on supporting services such as fundraising and marketing
228 W. Lexington Street
Balitmore, MD 21201-3443
Website: http://www.crs.org/
Brian Backe
Director, Domestic Programs Support Unit
Primary Phone: (410) 951-7280
bbacke@crs.org
Christian Church - Disciples of Christ – Week of Compassion (CC[DOC]WOC)
Through Week of Compassion, North American Disciples of Christ reach out in the name of Christ to:
• provide emergency and long-term assistance to people in the aftermath of hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, droughts, civil war and other natural and human catastrophes. In a typical year WOC responds to a disaster about once every two days.
• respond with help, hope and hospitality to people who have been uprooted and displaced from their homelands by war, environmental catastrophe, famine and natural disaster. Many of the world’s 25 million refugees are children.
• support self-help programs of development and rehabilitation that empower people and communities to stand against and rise above hunger, poverty, disease, illiteracy, and other forces of injustice that deny and destroy human dignity. WOC supports projects in more than 80 nations on every inhabitable continent of the earth.
• encourage and support volunteer groups in "hands-on" mission and service opportunities. Annually, WOC partners with more than 50 Disciples work groups in mission projects in North America and abroad.
Through partnerships with Church World Service, Action by Churches Together, Interchurch Medical Assistance, Food Resource Bank, Heifer Project International, the Disciples’ Overseas Ministries, Volunteers in Mission, Refugee and Immigration Ministries, Bread for the World, Souper Bowl of Caring, Habitat, the Ecumenical Church Loan Fund (ELCOF), and hundreds of local church partners around the world, Week of Compassion shares in a remarkable network of service and caring that is efficient, effective and faithful. WOC’s administrative costs are typically less than eight percent annually.
Disciples through WOC also participate with Christians in nine other Protestant denominations in One Great Hour of Sharing, thus multiplying the effectiveness and extent of our witness many times over.
Of course, the partnership we share with more than 3200 Christian Church congregations across North America is where this remarkable ministry of connecting Disciples to the world and sharing compassion with all God’s children truly begins. Disciples annually channel more than 2.5 million dollars through Week of Compassion for humanitarian needs in the world.
P.O. Box 1986
Indianapolis, IN 46206
http://www.weekofcompassion.org
Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC)
The Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC) is a relief, development, and educational ministry of the Christian Reformed Church in North America. CRWRC partners with local agencies that understand local needs. Together CRWRC and its partners find ways to provide lasting change for people in more than 30 countries around the world. CRWRC believes that by helping people help themselves the chains of poverty can be stripped away. CRWRC is driven by the call of Micah 6:8b: "And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
CRWRC responds to the Micah Call by:
1. Listening to those in need and collaborating with local partners to ensure community development is relevant for those CRWRC seeks to help
2. Making the most of our resources- including staff, donations, partners and programs
3. Building long-term relationships with communities during disaster response
4. Assisting local church leaders become resources for the poor in their community
5. Promoting justice, advocacy and civil society through Biblical justice education
CRWRC has bi-national offices in Burlington, Ontario and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Transformational Development: In poor communities around the world and in North America, CRWRC works with local churches and organizations to bring about change. Our goal is complete community transformation to build up the Kingdom of God on earth.
View this video about creating ownership of development in Bamba and Ganze, Kenya.
CRWRC would like to extend its work in Guatemala pending sufficient funds in its member account.
2850 Kalamazoo Avenue SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49560
Bill Adams
Primary Phone: (616) 241-1691, ext 4161
adamsb@crcna.org
Church of the Brethren, Global Food Crisis Fund (COB-GFCF)
A wise adage declares that people are hungry because they are powerless and powerless because they are hungry. The Global Food Crisis Fund stands to address this dilemma by strengthening the productivity and well-being of the poor and hungry.
Launched in 1983, the Global Food Crisis Fund is the primary instrument of the Church of the Brethren General Board for addressing the problem of food security. The Fund seeks donations and disburses grants that help the poor in developing communities launch small-scale agriculture, build local capacity, and foster self-reliance. Working largely with faith-based partners, the Fund bolsters the dignity and independence of impoverished peoples, supports efforts to reduce infant and maternal malnutrition, and equips orphans and returning refugees to stand on their own.
The Fund enlists Brethren congregations in launching growing projects for Foods Resource Bank. It garners support for the Millennium Development Goals on reducing hunger and poverty in this generation, upholding the goals as today’s beatitudes for the least of these. It participates in forums of the Interfaith Anti-Hunger Coordinators. Foremost, it encourages and equips the hungry and poor to forge leadership within their own ranks and to move families and communities from subsistence to sustainability.
Giving momentum to the Global Food Crisis Fund’s efforts in advocacy and education are the more than 2,000 biblical references on feeding the hungry, loving the enemy, and pursuing justice for the oppressed. The Fund contends that no longer are the most vulnerable the most expendable. It counsels supporters to “draw out your soul to the hungry” (Psa. 58:10), so that others may “live full lives, full in the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:19, The Message).
While long-term agricultural and community development is the banner carried by the Global Food Crisis Fund, the deeper significance of its work is seen in crossing borders, embracing strangers, and bearing witness to the fullness of Christ’s love. In so doing, the Fund signals compassion, nourishes life, and plants not only seeds but hope.
1451 Dundee Avenue
Elgin, IL 60120
Jay A. Wittmeyer, Executive Director
Global Mission and Service
(847) 742-5100 x 226
Church World Service (CWS)
Church World Service works to eradicate hunger and poverty and promote peace and justice around the world. Founded in 1946, the U.S.-based not-for-profit focuses its efforts on sustainable solutions that reduce vulnerability and marginalization.
Whether our solutions involve providing a clean water source or resettling refugees, our actions are unique for each community and incorporate a local voice into decisions made.
We work in three primary areas: promoting food security & nutrition, ensuring access to clean water and protecting vulnerable communities, especially women and children.
Food Security & Nutrition
CWS promotes sustainable, nutritious food sources that are locally appropriate, nutritious and sustainable. Through emergency food assistance in times of disaster to helping communities identify and grow sustainable gardens, helping hungry people around the world is the cornerstone of our mission.
Access to Clean Water
Rainwater catchment systems. Filtering. Sand dams and more. CWS uses these and other tools because it recognizes the role access to clean, safe water plays in fighting hunger and promoting safety in vulnerable communities.
Protecting Vulnerable Women & Children
In many communities, impoverished women and children are especially vulnerable to poverty, particularly in times of disaster. CWS works to ensure its programs address the underlying causes that keep women and children susceptible to risk.
Resettling refugees from war-torn Europe and Asia was one of our first areas of work. Today, we are one of the few agencies the U.S. Department of State turns to in resettling refugees by federal contract, through our extensive network of local affiliates.
CWS enjoys robust relationships with a network of local organizations around the world. These local partners know how best to serve their communities. Together, we’re working toward a world where there is Enough for All.
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 700
New York, NY 10115
Donna Derr
Director, Development and Humanitarian Assistance Unit
Primary Phone: (202) 481-6937
dderr@churchworldservice.org
Evangelical Covenant Church-Covenant World Relief (ECC-CWR)
and the Paul Carlson Partnership:
Covenant World Relief (CWR) was established in response to the human suffering following World War II. In is a non-budgeted ministry that exists with the ECC, somewhat as a church “benevolence fund”. CWR is not a free-standing 501c3. Though it receives funds from donors all year long, funds are generally raised through a “thanksgiving” fall offering within the congregations of our denomination. Special funds are set up for specific disasters like the tsunami, Katrina and Wilma hurricanes, CA wildfires, etc.).
CWR largely works through partnerships and collaborations. Most of CWR funds are distributed through a grant process that is held in April of each year. Every year CWR must zero out its receipts (which is not hard to do). In all funds we may distribute one to 4 million dollars in a given year. CWR has a Commission appointed by the ECC Executive Board that oversees fund distribution. CWR works in three areas: relief (normally disaster – natural or man-made), rehabilitation, and development among the “poorest of the poor”. In a given year CWR may have projects in up to 30 nations.
CWR has a sole employee, the Director. However, staff from several ECC departments will assist with different tasks. There is significant program collaboration with the ECC department of World Mission. Agriculture programs are presently in Colombia, India, Laos, Thailand, Central Asia, Central African Republic, Sudan, DRC – Congo, Kenya, and Haiti.
Paul Carlson Partnership (PCP) was established as a separate 501c3 in 1965 following the death in Congo of a Dr Paul Carson. This foundation as always had a holistic approach to community health. It began in Congo, ran out of funds in 1987 and was re-energized in 2000. This foundation hosts programs and projects in the areas of medical, education, and infra-structure (which includes micro-enterprise/finance). It does a minimum of three years of programming and is presently focused in the DRC. It will eventually be partnering in a variety of countries. PCP has five staff persons.
5101 N. Francisco Avenue
Chicago, IL 60625
David Husby
Director of Covenant World Relief
david.husby@covchurch.org
Lutheran World Relief (LWR)
Every day in 35 countries, Lutheran World Relief works to combat the causes of poverty and the dignity it robs from people’s lives. We advocate for Fair Trade that helps farming families and artisans earn a better income. We teach people to better care for themselves, their communities and the environment. We teach people how to be less vulnerable to natural disasters. We advocate with and for them for policy change that more fairly represents them. We counsel them after manmade and natural disasters, and help them recover with material aid. We do all of this exclusively with partners from the communities we serve. Our partners help us remain incredibly efficient and effective. Our partners let us help people help themselves…for a day when they won’t need us at all. Empowered by God's unconditional love in Jesus Christ, we envision a world in which each person and every generation lives in justice, dignity, and peace.
LWR would like to extend programming in Nicaragua and Peru pending available funds in their member account.
700 Light Street
Baltimore, MD 21230-3850
Fran Troxler
Director-At-Large
Primary Phone: (410) 230-2815
ftroxler@lwr.org
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), a worldwide ministry of Anabaptist churches, shares God's love and compassion for all in the name of Christ by responding to basic human needs and working for peace and justice. MCC envisions communities worldwide in right relationship with God, one another and creation.
Priorities
MCC’s priorities in carrying out its purpose are disaster relief, sustainable community development and justice and peace-building.
Approaches
MCC approaches its mission by addressing poverty, oppression and injustice – and their systemic causes; accompanying partners and the church in a process of mutual transformation, accountability and capacity building; building bridges to connect people and ideas across cultural, political and economic divides; and caring for creation.
Values
MCC values peace and justice. MCC seeks to live and serve nonviolently in response to the biblical call to peace and justice. MCC values just relationships. MCC seeks to live and serve justly and peacefully in each relationship, incorporating listening and learning, accountability and mutuality, transparency and integrity.
MCC would like to expand FRB funded activities into Nicaragua, Chad and Cambodia pending sufficient funds in their member account
Here is a link to the MCC learning tours in Israel and Palestine scheduled for October 23 - November 2, 2011.
21 South 12th Street P.O. Box 500
Akron, PA 17501-0500
Darrin Yoder
Material Resources Manager
717.859.1151
717.859.8167 (fax)
darrinyoder@mcc.org
Nazarene Compassionate Ministries - NCM
Following the example of Jesus, NCM (established in 1984) partners with local Nazarene congregations around the world to clothe, shelter, feed, heal, educate, and live in solidarity with those who suffer under oppression, injustice, violence, poverty, hunger, and disease. NCM exists in and through the Church of the Nazarene to proclaim the whole Gospel to all people.
The vision of NCM is simply that God's compassion would weave into the fabric of the church. God is showing compassion through the lives and ministries of the Church of the Nazarene in over 150 world areas. In keeping with the spirit of our Nazarene founders, NCM exists to minister to the whole person. We bring the hope of Jesus to a needy world through providing for people’s physical needs of food, clothing, and shelter. Additionally we offer long term relief and development assistance in an effort to combat the root causes of poverty. NCM seeks to implement this vision through managing resources, empowering people, enabling compassion, and extending the hope of Jesus to the world.
We do not want Nazarene Compassionate Ministries to be just an organization within the Nazarene structure, but rather that NCM would exist only because there are things that we, as the church, can do collectively that we can't do individually. NCM would then become the collective response of the church. Our prayer is that social holiness would erupt in every local church and that we could come alongside faithful members and resource them to serve.
“The Church of the Nazarene believes that Jesus commanded His disciples to have a special relationship to the poor of this world. Holiness, far from distancing believers from the desperate economic needs of people in our world, motivates us to place our means in the service of alleviating such need and to adjust our wants in accordance with the needs of others” (Nazarene Manual 903.4).
NCM’s four-fold approach:
• Child development
• Disaster response
• Development education
• Social transformation
17001 Prairie Star Parkway
Lenexa, KS 66220
Erin Stillion
Finance Coordinator
Primary Phone: (913) 577-0500
estillion@nazarene.org
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PCUSA-PDA)
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) enables congregations and mission partners of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to witness to the healing love of Christ through caring for communities adversely affected by crisis and catastrophic events.
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is the emergency and refugee program of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Its core budget, including staff and administrative costs, is funded through the One Great Hour of Sharing, and its program work additionally funded through designated gifts.
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance:
• Focuses on the long term recovery of disaster impacted communities
• Provides training and disaster preparedness for presbyteries and synods
• Works collaboratively with church partners and members of the ACT Alliance (Action by Churches Together) internationally, and nationally with other faith based responders
• Connects partners locally and internationally with key organizations active in the response – United Nations, NVOAD (National Voluntary Agencies Active in Disaster), World Food Program, Red Cross, FEMA and others
• Manages a number of specialized volunteer teams to work nationally and internationally providing consultation, program design and training
100 Witherspoon Street
Louisville, KY 40202
Ruth Farrell
Coordinator
Presbyterian Hunger Program
ruth.farrell@pcusa.org
Luke Asikoye
Associate International Responses
Primary Phone: 502-569-5837
luke.asikoye@pcusa.org
Reformed Church in America - Reformed Church World Service (RCA-RCWS)
Reformed Church World Service (RCWS) is a ministry of compassion and hope. Its purpose is to work with partners to alleviate hunger and poverty and to seek justice for people around the world. RCWS aims to fulfill the biblical mandate to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and visit the imprisoned (Matthew 25:35-36).
RCWS accomplishes its mission by:
• Providing emergency relief to disaster victims and others in need of immediate assistance.
• Participating in rehabilitation for people who have lost their homes and jobs.
• Encouraging development of long-term solutions to overcome the problems of hunger and poverty.
• Seeking justice through advocacy on behalf of poor and needy people.
• Challenging RCA members to learn more about the root causes of hunger and to give generously of their resources to help their neighbors who are poor and hungry.
RCWS traces its roots to the General Synod Committee on the Reformed Church Emergency Fund, which was formed in 1944 to help meet the needs of people after World War II. It was renamed the Reformed Church World Service Committee in the early '50s and continued to report annually to the General Synod of the RCA.
One of the distinctive features of RCWS has been its work to alleviate hunger and poverty with a variety of partners who share that goal. One of RCWS's earliest (1946) partners is Church World Service (CWS). Today CWS remains a strong and reliable partner in emergency response, in service to refugees and displaced persons, and in social and economic development.
Other RCWS partners include Foods Resource Bank, Action by Churches Together, Bread for the World, Disaster News Network, Call to Renewal, and RCA mission personnel around the world.
RCWS also provides leadership for local and global diaconal ministries. It is a part of the RCA Mission Services program and is funded through Partner-in-Mission shares, One Great Hour of Sharing offerings, hunger offerings, special appeals following disasters, and offerings from the A Fast That Lasts youth resource.
4500 60th Street SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49512
Jhonny Alicea-Baez
Director of Global Mission
1-616-698-7071, Ext 246
jalicea-baez@rca.org
United Church of Christ – One Great Hour of Sharing (UCC-OGHS)
The United Church of Christ (UCC) was founded in 1957 as the union of several different Christian traditions. We are a community of faith that seeks to respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed. From the beginning of our history, we were a church that affirmed the ideal that Christians did not always have to agree to live together in communion. Our motto—"that they may all be one"—is Jesus' prayer for the unity of the church.
The United Church of Christ is composed of Local Churches, Associations, Conferences and the General Synod. The structure within the national setting of the UCC is composed of four covenantal ministries, Office of General Ministries, Local Church Ministries, Justice and Witness Ministries, and Wider Church Ministries.
Within the United Church of Christ, the various expressions of the church relate to each other in a covenantal manner. Each having responsibilities and rights in relation to the others, to the end that the whole church will seek God’s will and be faithful to God’s mission.
While the Office of General Ministries, Local Church Ministries and for the most part, Justice and Witness Ministries work within the United States, Wider Church Ministries works both in the United States and internationally, and is supported in part by one of the four special mission offerings, One Great Hour of Sharing® as well as the basic support that is given for the operations of the church, Our Churches Wider Mission, basic. The One Great Hour of Sharing Offering provides support in the areas of health, education, agriculture, and advocacy that are needed in response to disaster, refugee and immigration concerns, or to improve the quality of life.
Wider Church Ministries and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) work together internationally as Global Ministries whereby jointly the churches create and maintain partnerships with churches and other non-government organizations to be a critical presence to those in need, especially as a result of disaster, civil unrest, food insecurity, and health hazards. The United Church of Christ, Wider Church Ministries is committed to working ecumenically. We are members of Church World Service and Action by Churches Together (ACT) International as well as supporters of other organizations including Foods Resource Bank.
700 Prospect Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44115
Susan M. Sanders
Minister for Global Sharing of Resources
Primary Phone: (216) 736-3210
sanderss@ucc.org
United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)
History:
Formed in 1940 in response to the suffering of people during World War II,
The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) continues to provide a channel through which people may express their Christian compassion for people around the globe, often the poorest in society, who are undergoing hardship and suffering as a result of natural catastrophes, conflicts, or wars. As a humanitarian relief and development agency, UMCOR is called on to provide immediate relief and long-term recovery wherever and whenever needed.
Mission:
Our mission is to alleviate human suffering — whether caused by war, conflict, or natural disaster — with open minds and hearts to all people.
Strategy:
UMCOR responds to natural or civil disasters that are of such magnitude that they overwhelm a community’s ability to recover on its own. UMCOR partners with local organizations and survivors to rebuild their livelihoods, health, and homes. UMCOR workers are known all over the world for their compassion, leadership, expertise and guidance in recovery efforts.
Operations:
UMCOR is working in 81 countries worldwide, including the United States. Wherever and whenever we are needed, we will Be There. And we will Be Hope.
Volunteers:
UMCOR utilizes thousands of volunteers every year. In fact, in 2006 at our Sager Brown depot and mission center in Louisiana alone, 3,031 volunteers prepared more than 300 tons of disaster relief supplies for shipping all over the globe.
Finances:
UMCOR is a good steward of your gifts and grants. Private donors can designate their gifts to our programs with the assurance that 100% will be spent on the programs.
475 Riverside Drive, Rm. 330
New York, NY 10115
June H. Kim
Vice Chair
Primary Phone: (212) 870-3877
jkim@gbgm-umc.org
World Hope International – (WHI)
WHI is a faith based relief and development organization alleviating suffering and injustice through education, enterprise and community health. Founded in 1996, WHI currently works in thirty countries around the world. Through flagship programs in anti-human trafficking, microfinance, and HIV/AIDS education and prevention, WHI implements its core beliefs of transformation, empowerment, sustainability and collaboration. In addition to these signature programs, WHI works in the areas of child sponsorship, rural development, education, disaster relief, and international volunteer service.
WHI focuses on trafficking prevention activities such as economic development for women, education for the least privileged, community health initiatives, HIV/AIDS prevention, and providing aftercare and counseling through partnerships with other governmental and non-governmental organizations. WHI is also a founding member of the Faith Alliance Against Slavery & Trafficking (FAAST), a group of faith-based organizations committed to eliminating slavery trafficking around the world.
Through microfinance and animal husbandry programs, WHI is giving the poor the chance to improve their livelihood. Enabling someone to start a small business or increasing farm productivity provides them with a consistent income, allowing them to provide basic healthcare and an education for their children. WHI is building and sponsoring schools, helping to bring quality education to children in remote areas of the world. Hope for Children connects sponsors in the U.S. with a child overseas, providing the child with basic necessities.
WHI also provides clean water, latrines, and wellness education through community based initiatives. Initiatives are in place to care for orphaned and vulnerable children by training and bring forward caregivers. WHI responds to disasters when staff is in place to appropriately and effectively do so. In the aftermath, WHI remains, providing permanent housing, grants for income generating projects and schools for displaced children.
WHI is interested in extending its work in Sierra Leone pending available funds.
625 Slaters Lane- Suite 100
Alexandria, VA 22314
John Allison
Director of Church Relations
888-466-4673
johnallison@worldhope.net
