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August 15, 2007
“THERE SHALL BE NO NEEDY AMONG YOU” (Deuteronomy 15:4) JCPA Anti-Poverty Campaign and the Food Stamp Challenge
On September 14th, the JCPA will be launching a national anti-poverty campaign called:
“THERE SHALL BE NO NEEDY AMONG YOU”
The campaign is designed to provide multiple opportunities for community members, congregants and Jewish leaders across the country to fulfill Deuteronomy’s aforementioned call to action. Through a combination of grassroots organizing, national programming and hard work, we hope to accomplish the following:
- Re-energize the organized Jewish community around combating domestic poverty;
- Strengthen the connection between direct service and anti-poverty advocacy in the Jewish community
- Enhance and coordinate anti-poverty activism taking place in communities around the nation;
- Foster partnerships between agencies (both Jewish and non-Jewish) to further the goals of the initiative;
- Ensure that poverty becomes a first-tier issue in the 2008 elections;
- Provide technical assistance to Jewish organizations for social justice work; and
CAMPAIGN LAUNCH: THE FOOD STAMP CHALLENGE
JCPA will launch the campaign with what is known as the “food stamp challenge”. Executive Director Rabbi Steve Gutow and JCPA Chair Lois Frank will spend the week between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (September 14th – 21st) subsisting on the budget of the average food stamp recipient: $1 per meal per day ($21 for the week). The challenge is designed to call attention to the inadequacy of the food stamp benefit and to galvanize support around a strong reauthorization of the nutrition title of the farm bill. (For more information on why anti-hunger advocates care about the farm bill, click here).
We are urging JCRC directors, board members, and other community leaders and members to join us in taking the challenge during the week of September 14th – 21st. Not only does this week hold special meaning because of the Jewish high holidays, but it will correspond with Senate action on the 2007 farm bill.
Taking the food stamp challenge is a dynamic way for your community to launch your participation in the JCPA national anti-poverty campaign, reach out to other community leaders, and to get involved in one of the most important human needs issues of the 110th Congress. Leaders from over a dozen communities across the country have already committed to taking the challenge with JCPA. Please urge your community to join us!
The Process: We recognize that taking the food stamp challenge is a big commitment. Therefore, the JCPA is ready to provide your community with whatever resources you need to participate. A toolkit of suggested activities is available to help you and your JCRC undertake this challenge. Should you decide to take the challenge, one of the most important things you can do is to ask your members of Congress, state legislators, and other local leaders to take the challenge with you (both the toolkit and a sample invitation letter to send to your members of Congress are available from JCPA).
By participating in the food stamp challenge while the Senate is considering the farm bill, you and your JCRC have the opportunity to raise awareness and engage your communities and your elected officials on this important topic, while helping to launch a national campaign that will keep issues like this high on the agenda throughout the year. If you are interested in joining us or receiving resource materials on how to take the food stamp challenge, please contact Melissa Boteach at mboteach@thejcpa.org or 202-212-6039.
GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING:
The “food stamp challenge launch” is just the beginning. Community engagement will be maintained throughout the campaign through working groups – or “clusters” organized according to different aspects of poverty centering on issues such as:
- Hunger and Food Insecurity
- Public Health and Environmental Justice
Throughout the campaign, these clusters will meet via conference call at least once a month to set priorities and advocacy/service goals, share best practices, and coordinate programming for maximum effect. When anti-poverty legislation relevant to a particular cluster needs grassroots action, the JCPA will help the communities mobilize activists. When a particular community service project draws large numbers of young people to the JCRC, that community will share materials with other members of the cluster to help duplicate successful results. These working groups will be the force behind the campaign, ensuring grassroots involvement and continuity of activism and community service.
If you receive “Confronting Poverty”, chances are that you and/or your community are concerned about at least one of the cluster issues. Please consider speaking with leaders in your Community about joining us.
NATIONAL PROGRAMMING:
JCPA will be providing resources to communities throughout the year including:
- Monthly themes around the Jewish holidays for the campaign’s first year
- Network and Partnership Opportunities
- Online Activist Manual and Reference Guide and development of a poverty Speaker’s Bureau
- Consultation and Technical Assistance
VISION: JCPA envisions a national Jewish anti-poverty campaign in which communities across the country will be engaged in social justice and anti-poverty activism in a broader and deeper sense. Within the Jewish community, there will be a strengthened connection between the services we provide and the values that we stand for in our advocacy. Our partners, whether they be other faith groups, civil rights organizations, unions and businesses, or government officials will recognize the Jewish community’s commitment and leadership on this issue and our activism will inspire deeper and more powerful relationships that will strengthen coalitions around our other priorities.
Finally, as momentum builds among the Jewish community and our partners, the profile of poverty will be raised in town halls, university campuses and political campaigns across the country, galvanizing a true national commitment to take the concrete steps needed to significantly reduce poverty in the next ten years.
If you are interested in getting involved in the JCPA anti-poverty campaign, please contact your local Jewish Community Relations Council. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Melissa Boteach at (202) 212-6039 or at mboteach@thejcpa.org.
Supporting JCPA
JCPA speaks to you each week in “Confronting Poverty”, providing up-to-date information on policy developments, research and activism related to combating poverty in America.
For three generations, JCPA has brought together diverse voices in the Jewish community to unite a strong Jewish public policy force that embodies the principle of “tzedek, tzedek tirdof”, and promotes equal opportunity and social justice in American society.
We hope you will continue to enjoy our three weekly emails. Please consider a gift of $500, $100, or any other amount that you can, so that JCPA can enhance our efforts to provide information and resources to your community, and to mobilize our national network in support of Israel, poverty, and of all the public issues we care about so dearly. Click here to make a contribution to the JCPA. Contributions can also be sent to JCPA, 116 E. 27th, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10016 or click here and we will send you a contribution envelope.
Thank you so much for your support.
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