Offering of Letters 2004

Date: February 3, 2004

The annual Offering of Letters, an interfaith advocacy campaign that the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) endorses, asks Congress to fund the Millennium Challenge Account and the AIDS Emergency Relief Plan at the promised levels without cutting existing effective poverty-focused development assistance programs. Join people of faith around the country in calling on our leaders to Keep the Promise on Hunger and Health.

Many promises have been made in recent years to hungry and poor people around the world. In 2000, 189 countries, including the United States, agreed upon the Millennium Development Goals, targets to cut extreme hunger and poverty by half and to substantially improve health, education and livelihoods in developing countries by 2015.

In 2002, President Bush announced the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). Bush promised that the MCA and another important effort, the U.S. AIDS Emergency Relief Plan, would add $8 billion per year in new funding to the United States’ current poverty-focused development efforts. These proposals present a historic opportunity to offer millions of additional hungry and poor people the chance to make a better life for themselves and their families – but only if Congress and the president follow through to make sure the proposals are fully funded.

More information about the Offering of Letters campaign can be found at http://www.bread.org/issues/offering.html or by calling 1-800-82-BREAD. An Offering of Letters kit and children's educational and activity materials are available. The annual hunger report will be published this month.