Lutherans Provide A Solution To Avoid Holiday Shopping Rush

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- To give to "the person who has everything" and people who have very little this holiday season, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) offers some "alternative" gift-giving ideas. Through the ELCA World Hunger Appeal, members of the church have the opportunity for one-stop shopping that honors family and friends this holiday season with exclusive gifts that can change lives.
"Giving a donation to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal in honor of family and friends is a gift that means more than one extra tie or pair of slippers," said Kathryn Sime, director, ELCA World Hunger and Disaster Appeal. "In this case it's the thought and the gift that count," she said.
To help break out of the frenzied "spend-give" cycle, Sime suggests that Lutherans give to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal. This form of gift-giving offers Lutherans a chance to purchase animals, water supplies, health kits and more to help people in need across the United States and overseas. "Animal husbandry, water projects, health care and assistance to refugees are key elements of the ELCA's world hunger ministry," she said.
"A gift can be designated to support animal projects, for example, knowing that the World Hunger gift doesn't just 'buy' an animal," said Susan Edison-Swift, director of World Hunger and Disaster Appeal communication, ELCA Department for Communication.
"Donations support projects that help villagers [around the world] farm in earth-friendly ways and sell their produce at a fair price, so they can break the cycle of poverty. Since so much work of ELCA World Hunger is done in rural areas, animals are key parts of these projects," said Edison-Swift.
A $10 to $15 gift can buy a pair of rabbits in Peru, or a loan to start a duck-raising business in Cambodia, said Edison-Swift. A $30 gift can buy chickens in Kenya, and a $100 gift can help communities in Bangladesh start small businesses that rely on insects like bees or silkworms, she said.
"Animals play critical roles in the battle against hunger, when they are part of comprehensive programs that move whole communities toward sustainable economic development," said Edison-Swift.
"I had the privilege of visiting projects supported by the ELCA World Hunger Appeal in East Africa earlier this year, and I saw the transformational impact of animal programs," she said. "Chickens, pigs, goats, cows and more provide food and income for the family and fertilizer for their crops. Even I could quickly spot a banana tree that had the benefit of a farm animal nearby."
"Alternative gift giving adds some fun to the joy of giving to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal," said Edison-Swift. "Telling Aunt Jane that her gift supports a child going to school is more fun than just telling her she's received a donation to ELCA World Hunger."
To help personalize the donation, "alternative Christmas gift cards" can be used to notify gift recipients that a donation has been made in their honor. A collection of "seven perforated card enclosures range in sentiment from the serious to the silly," said Edison-Swift. "New and blue 'Go and do likewise' gift cards come ready for you to personalize," she said.
Alternative gift-giving ideas are available in the "ELCA World Hunger Alternative Giving Ideas Catalog." The catalog is free and offers gift-donation ideas ranging from $1 to $16,000. It provides direction on how to give, additional resources and information.
"Churches, Sunday school programs and other groups can use the catalog to learn about ELCA world hunger work in concrete, understandable ways," said Edison-Swift.
The catalog is available from Augsburg Fortress Publishers, Minneapolis, the publishing ministry of the ELCA.
If "alternative gifts to ELCA World Hunger won't satisfy your whole Christmas gift list, purchases on the Internet can be made at Barnes & Noble, Lands End and other retailers that will give a percentage of the online purchase to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal," said Edison-Swift. A list of retailers is available on the Internet at http://www.elca.org/hunger/howtogive.html. The Web site also offers "e-cards" to announce gifts made to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal, she said.
According to the Rev. Howard "Howie" Wennes, Ascension Lutheran Church, Thousand Oaks, Calif., alternative giving is one way the church can achieve its goal of raising $25 million for the annual ELCA World Hunger Appeal. The 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly voted to bring the total of the appeal to $25 million. The 2003 World Hunger Appeal and Stand With Africa garnered $18.2 million.
"We are a consumer-oriented society, and people are going to spend money this holiday season. So how do we take that impulse and turn it into significant giving that honors the person we are giving a gift and, at the same time, work to bring new life?" said Wennes, a member of the ELCA World Hunger Appeal staff and former bishop of the ELCA Grand Canyon Synod.
"Stand With Africa is another enterprise that can catch people's interest and attention" to achieve the $25 million goal, he said. Stand With Africa is a special "second-mile" Lutheran-led campaign designed to bring focus on issues significant to Africa, including HIV/AIDS, food security, and peace and reconciliation.
"We care about Africa. Anyone can grab onto the essence of the Stand With Africa campaign and give. It fits right into our culture" and offers an opportunity to "redeem our spending and make gift-giving resemble the spirit of Christ. It is about converting our consumerism to serve the spirit of Christ, acknowledging the gift of Christ and what that gift has meant to us," Wennes said.
Wennes' wife, Mary, has been honoring her family with alternate gift giving. She also has led Ascension Lutheran Church and Spirit of Grace Lutheran Church, Sun City, Ariz., to earn a combined total of $50,000 for the ELCA World Hunger Appeal via alternate gift-giving, Stand With Africa and other giving opportunities.
"Five years ago, I approached my then seven-year-old and nine-year-old grandchildren with a birthday gift idea for me. I gave them the alternative gift-giving catalog and told them to select a gift for me. With the assistance of their grandfather, they chose to buy an artificial limb for a child, who lost [an appendage] from a land mine in Angola. They also selected to buy fresh water for a village," said Mary Wennes. "Those are two of my most memorable gifts. The value system that we pass on to children makes an impact. [One of my grandchildren] never heard of a land mine, so it also served as a learning opportunity," she said.

ELCA Marks 30th Anniversary of its World Hunger Appeal
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the ELCA World Hunger Appeal. The appeal was established at the 1987 Constituting Convention of the ELCA. Churches that formed the ELCA launched a world hunger appeal in 1974.
The ELCA's predecessor church bodies developed a world hunger emphasis "to address the needs of the world and invite the church to respond to those needs intentionally and actively," said Wennes.
Howie and Mary Wennes developed a 30-day devotional guide designed to look like a banking checkbook. "The checkbook format to the 30-day devotion is a reminder that gifts to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal make a life-saving difference around the corner and around the world," he said.
"Go and do likewise" -- from the Gospel of Luke in the Bible -- serves as the theme for the ELCA World Hunger Appeal's 30th anniversary.
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Information about the 2004 ELCA World Hunger and Disaster Appeal and the "Alternative Giving Ideas 2004 Catalog" are available at http://www.elca.org/hunger on the Internet.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news