Monmouth Presbytery’s Hunger Action Program is part of the Presbyterian Hunger Program and shares its goal to alleviate hunger and eliminate its causes. The key to our program is people in congregations doing small and large things that lead to transformation of individuals, congregations, and communities.
Following are examples of the work we do to educate, motivate, and support our congregations to become engaged with the poor in their own communities and in other countries by addressing both immediate needs and long-term solutions:
- We offer training via workshops and other events;
- We organize advocacy efforts for local (e.g., homelessness in Ocean County) and national/international concerns (in conjunction with our partners that include the Presbyterian Hunger Program and Bread for the World);
- We communicate with congregations via the presbytery’s website and our Hunger Action and Advocacy Blog;
- We promote Fair Trade by providing educational materials to congregations and by selling coffee, tea, chocolate, olive oil, and other fair trade products available at costs;
- We train leaders in effective advocacy by through workshops (such as Bread for the World Offering of Letters training) and providing funds for members to attend training events (such as Ecumenical Advocacy Days).
- Whenever possible, we partner with other organizations such as Bread for the World (national level) and Homeless Ended through Local Partners (H.E.L.P.) in Ocean County.
- We educate congregations on hunger, poverty, and environment.
- We help congregations establish/maintain their hunger ministries by connecting them with:
- Best practices
- Financial support from the presbytery and/or the Presbyterian Hunger Program,
- Other congregations working in the same area (such as church gardens),
- Educational and other resources to support these ministries;
- We support the One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) Offering by providing training for OGHS coordinators in the congregations.
Also see our Menu of Ideas HAP – Menu of Ideas.
At the presbytery level, the most familiar part of our program is the Cents-Ability initiative, which raises awareness and funds in the fight against hunger. Since the program began in 2006, more than $45,000 has been raised and given to support hunger ministries here and around the world.
We also have a Homelessness initiative, which calls on our congregations and interfaith partners to pursue comprehensive responses to the crisis of homelessness and affordable housing (see “A Faithful Response to Homelessness” document).
