St. Vincent de Paul Society and Bread for the World join to fight hunger

Members from St. Monica Parish in Indianapolis, including Andra Liepa, third from left in the front row, pose for a photo after attending a Bread for the World educational program at the parish on April 15, a fruit of the new partnership between Bread for the World and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul-Indianapolis Archdiocesan Council, Inc. (Submitted photo by Steve Gillman)

By Natalie Hoefer

Two organizations in the archdiocese recently joined forces to combat hunger.

One is the Society of St. Vincent de Paul-Indianapolis Archdiocesan Council, Inc. (SVdP), which, among other efforts, addresses hunger through food pantries.

The other is Bread for the World, a national Christian organization seeking to eradicate hunger in America in part through an annual letter-writing campaign to federal congressional leaders advocating for federally-funded food programs.

The idea of a partnership started with Steve Gillman, a volunteer for both organizations.

“Seeing the desire of the St. Vincent de Paul Society to do advocacy for the hungry, and seeing that Bread for the World is already doing that—instead of [SVdP] reinventing the wheel, why not partner with someone who already has that as their mission?” explains Gillman, a member of St. Monica Parish in Indianapolis.

“I always get excited about St. Vincent de Paul food drives—that’s good stuff,” he says. “But food pantries only help one-sixth of those in need.”

The other five-sixths are taken care of by government programs, he says, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Women/Infants/Children food program, free and reduced price lunches and more.

He formed a partnership plan and presented it to the SVdP council board. The idea was twofold: to have SVdP parish conferences offer Bread for the World’s existing educational and training programs in parishes to educate and raise awareness about the issue of hunger in the U.S., and to have conferences promote parish participation in Bread for the World’s “Offering of Letters” letter-writing campaign.

The board approved the plan.

For ‘our neighbors who have no voice’

SVdP president Paul Ainslie is excited about the potential of the partnership.

“We’re supposed to be advocates for the poor,” he said of the non-profit organization. “Feeding is good, but if we don’t speak out for those who have little or no voice, we’re not doing all we can.

“To meet that purpose of St. Vincent de Paul, it’s necessary to advocate for social justice for those things that matter to our neighbors who have no voice. That’s what Bread for the World is all about. They’re an advocacy voice, and that’s something that’s hard to get started.”

David Miner, a leader of Bread for the World in Indiana, is hopeful for the partnership, too.

The member of Central Christian Church in Indianapolis says Bread for the World “was founded by Catholics and Protestants together” as an ecumenical effort partnering with other Christian faith traditions.

Miner says the Indiana leadership team “realized we don’t have nearly as much Catholic partnership as one might expect, given the size of the Church.

“St. Vincent de Paul—which is in the trenches with people every day—they very much appreciate the importance of changing the system and speaking up for the hungry. But it wasn’t convenient for them because they’re more into direct services. Advocacy is what Bread for the World does, and we’re able to help them do something they wanted to do.”

About 15 parish SVdP conferences have agreed to participate in the partnership so far, says Gillman.

‘A lot of people who go to bed hungry’

A vision of what the partnership in action could look like at the parish level is currently underway at St. Monica.

As a member of the parish’s SVdP conference, Gillman is “contacting all of the parish ministries to encourage their members to write letters” through Bread for the World’s annual letter-writing campaign, he says. “We’ll also put notices in the bulletin and [parish] newsletter and share information through the school and Sunday school.”

He also helped arrange for and promote a two-hour educational program by a Bread for the World team at the parish on April 15.

“It was a program educating people on poverty, what the current situation is and how we are called to act to address poverty,” says parishioner Andra Liepa, who attended the session.

“We’re the richest country in the world, but we still have a lot of people who go to bed hungry each night. The statistics in Indiana are pretty much the same as the national [statistics], so it hits very close to home.”

Currently, one in nine people face food insecurity in Indiana, according to feedingamerica.org. The United States Department of Agriculture reports that 10.2% of households in America faced hunger at some point in 2021.

“If those people get food assistance through government programs, it frees up money for other basic needs,” Liepa notes.

Miner adds that “this is a particularly important year” for people to advocate to their legislators for support of federal food programs “because the Farm Bill is up for reauthorization, and that includes all of the nutrition programs as well as some interventional programs.”

By contacting legislators through Bread for the World’s letter-writing campaign, says Liepa, “We’re really trying to use our voice as citizens, as people who are represented by these legislators, to make sure that they know that we think the Farm Bill is very important and should be re-authorized.”

‘Changing the system we have in place’

Writing letters to those in Congress “can seem daunting,” says Miner. But through Bread for the World’s process “it takes about 10 minutes,” he notes.

For in-person parish letter-writing campaigns, “They pre-print a standard form so you don’t have to recopy the bill number, and they leave a big space to then customize the letter,” he explains.

“We know form letters are largely disregarded by legislators, whereas a personal letter or phone call has way more impact.

“The blank part [of the letter] is the personal part—why I care about this issue, how [hunger has] impacted my family and so on. It’s not like ‘I’m a deep expert.’ It’s just ‘why I’m concerned.’ ”

The letter writing is not just for adults, Liepa adds.

“Kids can draw pictures on what does it mean to have enough food or to be hungry or not hungry,” she says. “It’s something school kids or classes can do.”

The letter-writing campaign typically runs in the spring through May 31, says Miner.

“But if a person or a parish can’t do it in that time frame, it’s OK to write in the summer or fall,” he adds. A sample, modifiable letter can be found and printed from the Bread for the World website. The document includes a page with tips for the letter-writer and links to look up the person’s legislator and contact information.

Gillman has high hopes for the SVdP/Bread for the World partnership.

“Ultimately,” he says, “I hope it helps those dealing with hunger and living in poverty by changing the system we have in place.”
 

(For more information about the partnership or Bread for the World’s letter-writing campaign, contact Steve Gillman at Gillman.s.c@gmail.com or 317-370-4974. For more information on Bread for the World or the Farm Bill, go to bread.org.) †