Hunger is a moving topic for folks in the Quad-Cities Area. The proof? Roughly 700 walkers from Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, and Rock Island and Moline, Ill., took to the streets on October 2 to help fight hunger in the nation’s only bi-state CROP Hunger Walk. This year marked the 40th year for the Quad Cities CROP Hunger Walk. Ann …
CWS emergency appeal: Cambodia flood response 2011
October 21, 2011
Situation: Cambodia is experiencing its worst seasonal flooding in more than a decade. Seventeen of the country’s 24 provinces have been affected – with 1,500,000 people affected nation-wide and more than 90,000 families displaced, according to authorities. The death toll stands at 207. About 13 percent of Cambodia’s rice crop is currently flooded, almost half of which is now destroyed, …
CWS 2020 Vision Adopted by CWS Board
ELGIN, Ill. – Combining “faith with a plan of action,” the board of directors of humanitarian agency Church World Service unanimously approved a strategic vision to meet the requirements for superior performance in a changing global environment. Calling the moment “historic,” CWS CEO and Executive Director, the Rev. John L. McCullough said the changes will “ripple out from here to …
Church World Service resettles 5,322 refugees in FY 2011 toward 56,424 U.S. refugee program total
October 14, 2011
Updated Monday, October 24, 2011 Delays resulting from the introduction of new U.S. Homeland Security checks in February contributed to a significant drop in U.S. refugee admissions in FY 2011 (Oct. 1, 2010 – Sept. 30, 2011), with Church World Service resettling 5,322 (down from 7,055 in FY 2010) toward a U.S. Refugee Admissions Program total of 56,424 (down from …
Focus on reducing disasters: “One way we are making a difference”
Chris Herlinger | October 13, 2011
Yogyakarta, Indonesia – The need to focus on reducing the risks of disasters takes on special meaning on the International Day for Disaster Reduction (October 13) and throughout October. Similarly, such a focus united some 40 participants in common purpose during a recent ACT Alliance global workshop on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. The 5-9 September meeting, held …
America’s oldest hunger walk ups the pace as need grows
October 10, 2011
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – For the past 15 years, 67-year-old Marilyn Pisa has spent her Labor Day morning walking 4.5 miles through the neighborhoods of Valencia and Newhall, Calif., to support her local CROP Hunger Walk, one of some 1,500 events held annually nationwide and deemed the oldest hunger walks in America. CROP Hunger Walk, sponsored by global humanitarian agency …
Updated emergency appeal: Pakistan (Sindh) flooding
October 6, 2011
APPEAL # 699-Z AMOUNT: $1,723,229 Funding Received to Date: $90,000 Situation: Some 300 people have died from three months of flooding in Sindh, Pakistan, a disaster that has destroyed some 400,000 homes and has left a trial of serious diseases in its wake, with hundreds of thousands suffering from hepatitis and malaria. More than a half million people are living …
Facing similar struggles, CWS brings together indigenous people
Fionula Cregan/CWS | October 5, 2011
SANTA FE, Paraguay — Without a new peer exchange program, Omar might not learn new ways to help feed his community. “I feel inspired by what I have learned from my Bolivian friends – they have only a small amount of land but have managed to do many things,” says Omar Suarez, leader of the community of Nepoxen. Omar is …
Stories from the DREAM Sabbath
September 29, 2011
When the Rev. Mary Ellen Finegan of Central United Methodist Church in Fairmont, W.Va., stood up to preach this past Sunday, she knew that her message would be controversial with some members. She was about to speak out in support of the DREAM Act, a bipartisan bill that would provide a path to citizenship for some undocumented youth. (Read her …
Weedsport, NY, church enthused about Blankets+ Program
September 27, 2011
“My congregation is enthused about being part of the Blankets+ Program, because they know that their contributions are making a big difference in people’s lives, and in the future of entire communities. Blankets+ is an investment that pays long-term dividends in the form of better health, higher standards of living, and environmental preservation in areas of the world where the …