Offering of Letters

Bread for the World is an advocacy organization, which lobbies for public policies that address the needs of hungry and poor people in our nation and around the world.  Each year Bread for the World sponsors an Offering of Letters campaign.  In this campaign, participants write letters to Members of Congress in order to impact policy decisions.  Contact Bread for the World for the specific focus of this year, 2007. 

• Publicize well before the actual letter writing campaign.  As with other events during National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, send out news releases, post flyers, and utilize other media.  This way, community members will know both locations and times to either write a letter or drop one off.

• Decide when you would like to have an Offering of Letters campaign during the Awareness Week.  Some communities have set up a booth and held the event during one day, while other communities have distributed letter writing information following other events during the Awareness Week.

• Find out the names and contact information of the members of Congress for your district.

• Ask local businesses or other sponsors to supply postage, envelopes, pens, and paper.

• Handwritten letters are best but you should also draft a sample letter that community members can replicate.  Please contact Bread for the World for sample letters.  Some community members may have never written to their Congressional representatives before.  Make this experience as convenient and straightforward as possible so as to encourage successive letter writing.

• Provide information about hunger and homelessness during the campaign so that community members can include compelling statistics/facts in their letters on the need for supportive legislation.  You can obtain this information from Bread for the World (see below for contact info).

• Urge community members to continue their political action through voting, by writing letters to, calling, and visiting their local Congressional members.

To receive an Offering of Letters kit and more information about Bread for the World, please contact:

Bread for the World
50 F Street, NW, # 500
Washington, DC 20001                       
phone: 202-639-9400  and (800) 82-BREAD
Fax: (202) 639-9401                                               
Email: bread@bread.org                       
Website:  www.bread.org