Volume 16 Number 2 Spring 2016
Hunger News & Hope
...a Seeds of Hope publication
Finding a Home:
Unaccompanied Youth in America
by Chelle Samaniego
photo by LeAnne Kerr
ammy makes his way down the long center aisle of the bus. He spots his friend
David sitting three seats up from the back. Bracing himself, Sammy slides in next
to him just as the bus lurches forward. He stashes his backpack between his feet, then
turns to do the standard 15-year-old early morning greeting. But, instead of asking
about homework or the latest party, Sammy says, Can I crash at your house tonight?
Sammy is one of the millions of children1 in the United States who face homelessness
every year. But, unlike the majority of children categorized as homeless under
McKinney-Vento legislation who live in transition with family members, Sammy is
doing this alone.
Officially recognized as unaccompanied youth, teens like Sammy are making it
to school on time, keeping their
grades up and even starring
on their high schools football
teams, all without a parent or
legal guardian.
The McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act defines
homelessness, as it applies to
school-aged children, as children
living in domestic violence
shelters, homeless shelters,
transitional housing, hotels or
motels or doubled up. The
latter means that the child and
his or her family are living in the
house with another family and
their names are not on the lease.
This legislation also
secures funding and help for
children like Sammy who are not
living with biological parents or a
guardian. Under this legislation,
See Finding a Home on page 2
What Youll
Find Inside:
2-3
Finding a Home,
continued
4-5
Seeds of Hope Celebrates
25 Years in Waco
6
Resources & Opportunities
7
Our Pebble in the Pond
by Merrill J. Davis
a review
8
Quotes, Poems & Pithy
Sayings
Finding a Home
continued from page 1
a homeless unaccompanied youth (1) has the right to immediate
enrollment without proof of guardianship, (2) can select a school
of attendance, whether it is the local attendance area or the
school of origin, and enroll immediately, and (3) can receive
transportation to and from the school of origin, if requested.
McKinney-Vento legislation also requires every school
district in the US to designate a local homeless education
liaison to assist homeless students and families. In Waco, TX,
the homeless liaisons passion for the unaccompanied youth in
her district helped launch the idea for an after-school nurturing
center called The Cove.
The number one thing we want to do is make sure the
kids graduate, states Cheryl Pooler, who is the homeless
liaison for Waco Independent School District. Numbers show
that in the United States, less than 25 percent of children who
are documented homeless under McKinney-Vento legislation
graduate from high school.
However, the Waco school district recently announced
that 100 percent of its McKinney-Vento seniors graduated last
year. This is, in part, due to Pooler and her team of volunteers,
interns and social workers who stay connected, encourage and
help these teens see a future for themselves that is different
from the one revealed in national statistics and generational
poverty models.
According to Pooler, more than 90 kids will be eligible for
the new after-school services. Half of these children currently
reside with family members or friends and are considered to be
in healthy environments. The rest? They will have The Cove.
Set to open officially in the fall of 2017, The Cove will
serve up to 50 students daily offering tutoring, homework
help, mentoring, laundry facilities, showers, counseling, social
services assistance and more.
But, the best part is that The Cove will offer a sit-down,
family meal. Pooler recognizes that the center cannot replicate
a home, but it will do whatever it can.
The idea stems from the concept of the warming/cooling
center, which communities across the country operate to assist
those living in homelessness during extreme weather conditions.
Shelters typically are closed during the day for various reasons,
including cleaning or the simple lack of manpower. When
the shelter is closed during summer and winter months, and
temperatures reach the extremes, these centers are open to help
keep homeless individuals alive.
Many unaccompanied youth join
extracurricular activities to have a safe place
to be when the schools doors are closed. They
also develop a close-knit, like-minded family
this way. But what about the rest? And where
do you go when band practice is over?
When unaccompanied youth get out of school everyday,
where do they go? Many join extracurricular activities to have
a safe place to be when the schools doors are closed. They also
develop a close-knit, like-minded family this way. But what
about the rest? And, where do you go when band practice is
over?
Many children who live with someone who is not a
parent or guardian do not have the structure of the typical
family. They simply have a place to sleep. Couch surfing
is a typical phenomenon, where teens bounce from house to
house, wherever friends will allow them to sleep on the couch
or floor for a few days.
Yes, these children may have a place to sleep. However,
they may not be allowed in the house until bedtime. No dinner
is available at 6 p.m. No one sits and provides homework help.
Statistics show that dropout rates among
homeless or runaway youth are at 75 percent.
If they havent dropped out, studies show they
A Few Things You Can Do for Homeless Youth
will drop out. That is why centers across the
country like The Cove are so important.
1. Educate yourself. Check out the sources from Chelle Samaniegos article
Unaccompanied youth are our kids at
on pages1-3, and then find out whats happening in your area. How many
greatest risk, Pooler continues. They are
homeless youth are in the closest school district? Who directs the homeless
not only at risk of not receiving a high school
liaison office?
diploma, but they are at risk of becoming
2. Educate others. Most people dont realize how many students are homeless,
a victim of violent crime. One out of three
or how many are food-insecure. As soon as you get the facts, share them.
children who run away becomes a victim of
3. Contact your districts homeless liaison director. Find out what the local
human trafficking within 48 hours.
needs are, and how you can help. There may be a mentoring or after-school
As many as 20,000 kids are forced into
program in your area. You could help with a weekend backpack program.
prostitution by human trafficking networks
Some churches work together to collect school uniforms for homeless
every year in the United States. An April 2016
students. If none of these programs exist, you could start one.
brief by the National Conference of State
Legislatures shared, It is estimated that 5,000
4. If you arent able to volunteer, you might be able to contribute financially
unaccompanied youth die each year as a result
to your districts homeless education program.
of assault, illness or suicide.
Adapted from Five Things You Can Do to Help Kids in Homeless Situations,
Youth ages 12 to 17 are more at risk of
Texas Homeless Education Office.
homelessness than adults. Today, over 40
Hunger News & Hope 2
Spring 2016
percent of homeless people in America are
children under the age of 18.
Numerous factors could make a child
homeless at any moment. Family dysfunction,
substance abuse, pregnancy, sexual activity or
orientation, or a parent becoming incarcerated,
deported or passing awayall of these
contribute to youth homelessness. Some run
away from a foster-care placement or find
themselves aging out of the foster care system
and on the street due to limited emotional
intelligence and no support system.
In 2015, the Covenant House network
provided services to more than 51,000 homeless
children. Covenant House began in 1972 with
the mission of getting homeless kids off of
our nations street. It currently operates in 27
cities in the United States, Canada and Central
America. It is the largest privately funded
charity in the Americas, providing loving
care and vital services to homeless, abandoned,
abused, trafficked and exploited youth.
Covenant House first addresses the initial
needs of a teen coming in from the streetsa
warm shower, clean clothes and a bed to sleep
in. Then, once the child is safe, the covenant
occurs when a next-steps plan is established to
further secure the childs future.
There is a question of whether the number
of unaccompanied youth in America is
increasing, or the stigma behind being homeless
and alone is diminishing. Whatever the case,
teen nurturing centers, shelters and concerned
adults are reaching out to teens like Sammy,
not only to enhance their present conditions,
but also to secure their future.
Chelle Samaniego is a freelance writer, mom and
social-media guru living in Waco, TX. She is the
social-media editor for Seeds of Hope and a number
of other anti-hunger organizations in Central Texas.
Sources: Covenant House (www.covenanthouse.
org), The Cove (www.thecovewao.org), National
Conference of State Legislatures, Office of the
Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State
of Washington, US Department of Education. See
also the National Coalition for the Homeless (http://
www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/youth.html).
Endnotes
1. Numbers vary, depending on criteria,
but anywhere from 1.3 to 2 million children
experience homelessness during a years time
in the US.
1. To learn more about the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Education Assistance Improvements
Act of 2001, visit http://center.serve.org/
nche/downloads/briefs/youth.pdf.
Spring 2016
West Texas School District Creates
College & Career Readiness Camp
for Homeless Students
ccording to various networks that work with homeless youth,
somewhere between 1.7 million and 2 million children and young
people experience homelessness in the US at least once during the year.
These children, teens and young adults spend their days in school thinking
that their living situation defines who they are.
The fact that they dont have a home on solid ground leads these kids
to believe that they will never be able to reach graduation, earn a college
degree or hold a job that could get them out of homelessness. There are
people in their lives who tell them that they are worthy and able to attain
these goals, but Socorro Independent School District in West Texas, near
El Paso, is doing something more.
This Socorro ISD recently hosted their first No Excuses College and
Career Readiness Camp (also known as No Excuse U) for homeless
students in the area. These students rely on their school building to be
their place of shelter during the day, so, when Spring Break rolls around,
they do not have anywhere to go. No Excuse U was created to give the
homeless youth of Socorro a place to go during the day during school
breaks, and also provide resources and teachings about the importance
of graduation and higher education.
The camp was available for students from the sixth to the eighth grade
who were chosen based on outstanding behavior, grades and [class]
attendance. Out of the 30 students who were chosen, 14 participated
in the camp. Although attending college and acquiring a job seem far
off for middle school students like these, SISD believed that the sooner
it makes an effort to inspire these kids to reach beyond what they may
expect of themselves, the better impact it will have on their futures.
During the camp, students went through sessions of activities like
resume building, searching for potential career paths, learning about
universities and technical colleges, and understanding budgets. When
the students learned about career paths, there was a significant emphasis
on careers that require some kind of degree or certification, to instill the
idea that hard work will pay off.
The camp hosted several guest speakers from different career fields.
Included with the camp was a group tour of the University of Texas in El
Paso (UTEP). The students provided positive feedback about the week,
and two students, who said they had once felt wary about college, began
to welcome the idea that attending college is a realistic goal for them.
District officials say they hope to open up program attendance
next year to migrants and foster children and to continue encouraging
students about the importance of college degrees. Whoever is chosen
for No Excuse U, in the next few years they will stop believing that
people like themselves who suffer in homelessness never stop suffering
in homelessness. Rather, these students will be ushered into a learning
experience that will hopefully benefit not only their futures, but those
of generations to come.
Compiled by LeAnne Kerr. LeAnne, who hails from Shreveport, LA,
is a professional writing student at Baylor University and a Seeds of
Hope intern. Sources: The Texas Homeless Education Office (http://
homelesseducationconnection.blogspot.com), National Network for Youth (www.
nn4youth.org).
Hunger News & Hope
Sowing Seeds of Hope
A Decatur-Born Ministry Celebrates 25 Years in Waco
t all began with an earthquake in Honduras. In 1974, George
Sheridan, a member at Oakhurst Baptist Church in Decatur,
GA, traveled to that country with a group from the Foreign
Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention to help
with disaster-relief efforts. Later he wrote that the experience
awakened him to the stark realities of hunger around the world.
George returned to Oakhurst, which was, at that time, a
Southern Baptist church, with the hope of doing something
about hunger. He preached a sermon about world hunger that
galvanized the congregation. One member issued a challenge
in the church newsletter: To be brought face-to-face with
the reality of hunger issues and fail to respond would be
inexcusable.
The church responded by embracing hunger relief as a
major missions effort, with Gary Gunderson and Andy Loving
following Georges lead. In January of 1977, they sent out a
mimeographed one-page newsletter to 600 Southern Baptists,
and the Seeds ministry was born.
The Seeds mission group, which soon included Tom
Peterson and Ken Sehested, continued to push Southern
Baptists to respond to hunger issues. In 1978, they helped
organize a convention-wide Convocation on World Hunger at
the Ridgecrest Baptist Assembly site in North Carolina. That
same year, Seeds initiated, along with a few other organizers,
the first Southern Baptist World Hunger Day.
The next year, the group produced the first issue of Seeds in
magazine format, with the tagline Southern Baptists Concerned
about Hunger, and a book of 30 miss-a-meal meditations,
entitled Roots of Hope. The magazine began a bimonthly format,
alternating with the newsletter supplement Sprouts. In the next
few years, the Seeds staff assisted in starting soup kitchens, night
shelters, food pantries and other poverty-related assistance
programs across the United States.
By 1982, the ministry had expanded to include other
Christian groups, and the tagline on the banner changed to
Christians Concerned about Hunger. That year, the Seeds
Reader issue on Women and
Hunger won the prestigious
Hunger Media Award
given by World Hunger
Year. The next year, Seeds
co-published, along with
the Alternatives group, the
curriculum All Tied Up, a
weekend hunger-education
retreat for youth.
Andy Loving left in
1984 to work for St. Luke
Episcopal Churchs ministry
for homeless people. Ken
Sehested also left that year
to become the founding
Hunger News & Hope 4
director for the new Baptist Peace Fellowship of North
America. Gary Gunderson became the ministrys director and
Tom Peterson took on the editors job. Also that year, Seeds
organized a strong effort to respond to the famine in Ethiopia
and published A Guide to World Hunger Organizations, edited
by Louis Knowles.
The next year, Seeds won another Hunger Media Award
for The Church and Hunger, a second Seeds Reader, and
helped the city of Decatur form a sister-city relationship with
two cities in Burkina Faso, West Africa.
Seeds representatives led a study tour to the Philippines
in 1986, during the revolutionary People Power election of
Corizon Aquino as president. Also that year, the Seeds group
But the history of Seeds, as Marla
Pierson wrote in a Waco Tribune-Herald
article, is a tale of resurrection.
visited 22 US cities and towns to examine the State of the
Hunger Movement, and published a special issue with the
Food First organization on Hunger and Democracy.
A special 10th anniversary issue with UNICEF on Child
Survival took the staff to West Africa, Brazil and Indonesia
in 1987. Also that year, Seeds published the Hunger Action
Handbook, by Leslie Withers and Tom Peterson, with 24 howto chapters.
However, in the next couple of years, the sense of call and
purpose began to wane. By that time, the founding editors
were gone and people were tired. The Oakhurst folks thought
maybe it was time for the ministry to be laid to rest. But there
was a group of people in Texas who didnt want Seeds to die.
So, in 1991, Seeds of Hope, Inc. was formed in Texas, and
the ministry moved to Seventh & James Baptist Church, with
Katie Cook, then on staff at Caritas of Waco, as editor. In July
of that year, Oakhurst hosted what amounted to an adoption
ceremony, with the founding editors and the Oakhurst
congregation giving their blessing to the new incarnation.
Sandy Dwyer, who provided the lions share of the
transition work, and former editor Tom Peterson, presented
Katie with a framed copy of the original newsletter, the first
issue of Seeds Magazine and Seedsa New Generation, the
Waco groups introductory brochure. The accompanying
inscription read:
Fourteen years, three months and 13 days ago, this newsletter
began as a mission of hope out of Oakhurst Baptist Church.
Today, we pass on that mission to a new group of people who
have a sense of call. Katie Cook comes to us representing
a new generation of Seeds, ready and able to carry on.
Spring 2016
The Seeds of Hope mission statement declared
that this group intended to act on our belief
that the Bibles mandates to feed the poor are
not optional, and that we are responding to
those commands with joy, out of a sense of
gratitude for the abundance in our own lives.
On September 4, the Waco office was
officially open for business in a former Sunday
school classroom at Seventh & James. That first
year, the new group published Roots of Hope,
Volume II, a book of 40 meditations from an
ecumenical, interfaith pool of writers.
The first issue of Sprouts from Texas came
out in January 1992, as the ministry began a
quarterly publication of Seeds Magazine, with
two issues of Sprouts in between.
In 1994, Michael Williamson compiled
A Guide to World Hunger Organizations, Volume
II, a 10th-anniversary update. The next year a
group of Central Texas volunteers organized a
benefit concert, Seeds for the World, featuring
the News Boys, Sixpence None the Richer and
five other gospel acts.
In 1996, Katie represented Seeds in a human rights
delegation to Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico,
sponsored by the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America.
Also that year, the Smyth & Helwys publishing house hosted
the first fledgling Seeds website. The Seeds staff developed the
site with a grant from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
In 1998, the Council and staff, in the face of the changing
landscape of journalism, began to face the fact that there wasnt
enough money to keep printing a magazine. But the history of
Seeds, as Marla Pierson wrote in a Waco Tribune-Herald article,
is a tale of resurrection.
Within the year, church leaders said that they missed the
worship resources published in Seeds, and that they were looking
for such materials to help them lead their congregations, gently
and consistently, into awareness of economic justice and foodsecurity issues. So the staff began to create Sacred Seasons, a
series of resource packets (for Advent, Lent and a fall Hunger
Emphasis) with a biblical focus on justice issues, particularly
hunger and poverty.
Also during that year, the Seeds team received a phone
call from hunger educators who represented different faith
communities in the US. These leaders, part of an ad hoc group
called Interfaith Hunger Educators, said they missed the
information and inspiration they had received from Seeds.
That conversation began negotiations for a partnership
that would produce the award-winning Hunger News & Hope,
now a mostly electronic newsletter that is distributed through
several religious denominations and through the Seeds website
and social media.
In 2000, Seeds published, through Sacred Seasons, a series
of monologues about the events of Holy Week for a scene-toscene dramatic presentation to children. Over the years, writers
added to the monologues, and now the popular Easter Walk
packet includes 12 monologues that are used in presentations
for all ages. In 2008, Seeds published a companion packet: With
Spring 2016
Our Own Eyes, a group of scene-to-scene monologues about
the seven resurrection appearances in the gospels.
From 2003 to 2005, Seeds created and posted worship kits for
three peace services, sponsored by the American Baptist Church.
In 2006, the staff created Developing a Heart for the Hungry: A
Hunger Emphasis Primer for Beginning Churches. Seeds received
a grant from the H. C. Gemmer Christian Family Foundation
in 2015 to update the primer, and the Waco Regional Baptist
Association (WRBA) printed a number of them for its churches.
In 2007, the Alliance of Baptists sponsored a collection of
hunger sermons called Speaking of Hunger. Just before press
time, Seeds of Hope received a Gemmer grant to create another
collection of hunger sermons for fall 2016. In 2008, the Alliance
of Baptists sponsored Hope Is in Our Hands, a collection of
hunger lessons and activities for youth and children.
Over the years, the Waco staff developed a curriculum for a
four-part workshop for churches called Hunger in Gods World.
In 2015, that curriculum was published in collaboration with
the Hunger Ministry division of the WRBA.
The Seeds folks in Waco, like their predecessors in Decatur,
have not been content with publishing only, but have been active
in organizing and training people to respond with compassion
and integrity to difficult and compelling issues in our world.
In addition to the national Interfaith Hunger Educators group,
Seeds works closely with a number of local groups: Caritas of
Waco, World Hunger Relief, the McLennan County Hunger
Coalition, the Heart of Texas CROP Hunger Walk and others.
The Waco Seeds council and staff have been engaged several
times in intense discernment about the future of the ministry.
During the most recent one, someone came across a meditation
on the call of the prophet Isaiah, written by Frederick Buechner.
In the meditation, Isaiah asks God, How long should I do
this? The answer, in Buechners paraphrase, is Do it til the
cows come home.
The Council and staff saw this as a sign from God, and
that is why, 25 years after the adoption, Seeds is still here.
Forty-two years ago, as Oakhurst historian Alverta Wright
wrote, the winds of a hurricane
planted a seed in the heart of a
Christian relief worker. That seed
sprouted and has been nurtured by
hundreds of people. We hope it will
flourish until the cows come home.
Compiled by Katie Cook. Sources:
Houston Chronicle: Magazine on
Hunger Transplanted to Waco, 1991;
SBC Today (now Baptists Today):
Historic Magazine Moves to Texas
by Michael Usey, 1991; Waco TribuneHerald: Bread for the Masses by
John Young, 1992; Oakhurst Baptist
Church archives: A Pre-History of
Seeds by Alverta Wright, 1993; Seeds
Magazine: A Brief History of Seeds,
So Far by Katie Cook and Sandy
Dwyer, 1997; Waco Tribune-Herald:
Sowing Seeds of Hope, by Marla
Pierson, 1999.
Hunger News & Hope
Resources & Opportunities
Hunger News
& Hope
as they come out?
Email seedseditor1@gmail.com to
add your name to the e-list.
Teach Justice
through Worship.
Thanks to a grant from the H.C. Gemmer Christian Family
Foundation, we are planning a second edition of
Speaking of Hunger, our popular collection
of hunger sermons.
If you have preached
or written a good sermon
about hunger and the
churchs call to respondor
if youve heard a good one
please let us know. Contact us
at seedseditor1@gmail.com.
art by Peter Yuichi Clark
Would you like to receive Were collecting sermons
free electronic copies of about hunger.
Is the idea of a Hunger Emphasis new to your
congregation? If so, email
seedseditor1@gmail.com or go to
www.seedspublishers.org to get your copy!
Developing
a Heart
for the Hungry
Sacred Seasons is a series of creative worship tools to help
raise awareness of hunger and justice issues. A years
subscription of US$100 includes Advent/Christmastide,
Lent/Eastertide and a fall Hunger
Emphasis resource. To order, call
254/755-7745 or e-mail seedseditor1@
gmail.com. Single packets are US$40.
(Non-US subscriptions are US$115;
individual packets are US$50.) For
more information, go to www.
seedspublishers.org.
Hunger News & Hope 6
art by Jesse Manning
Ask for a free promotional copy of a
Lent, Advent or Hunger Emphasis
worship packet from Seeds of Hope.
a hunger emphasis primer
for beginning churches
Spring 2016
Resources & Opportunities
Our Pebble in the Pond by Merrill Davies
reviewed by LeAnne Kerr
hen we see people who are homeless, they are being
served at a soup kitchen or holding signs on street
corners. However, when we see people walking around
town or reading a newspaper in the park, we could be seeing
homeless people without knowing it.
Those who suffer from homelessness could be walking
among us daily, but the perspective by which we see them
determines how we approach them.
In Merrill Davies novel, Our Pebble in the Pond, she tells
many stories in one. Davies tells stories that reveal reality
The story digs deep into the truth that
when a person becomes homeless, he
or she is stripped of self-confidence
and self-worth, and it takes more than
getting back up on ones feet to regain
what was lost on the inside.
through loss, redemption, setbacks, comebacks, romance,
friendship, loyalty and self-worth. She illustrates the main
idea of perceiving othershomeless or notthrough the
fictional story of Joy Bridges.
Joy is not only the director of the homeless shelter
House of Blessing. She is also a resident. When there is talk
of rezoning the Forest Grove neighborhood, drama occurs
around the question of the shelters continuing existence in
that area. Although there had been little fuss about the shelter
before the idea of rezoning had come about, Forest Grove
residents become adamant about its impending danger to
the neighborhood.
Joy is a loveable main character who advocates for the
acceptance of others and the idea of lending a hand to ones
fellow citizens. She also encourages the shelters residents to
think of their higher goalsones that require perseverance
and steadfast dedication.
Some are alcoholics, some have created a pattern of losing
jobs and some have had addictions they just could not shake.
But, as Joy points out, each resident, no matter his or her
circumstances, deserves respect above all else.
The conflicts in the story uncover dishonest beliefs and
corrupt assumptions from one particular Forest Grove resident,
Marissa Franklin, and her idea that homeless shelters are full
of those kinds of people. To Marissa, homeless people are
dirty, addicted and desperate. However, Davies creates shelter
residents who are redemptive and worthy, with potential to
be more than one persons idea.
The story digs deep into the truth that when a person
becomes homeless, he or she is stripped of self-confidence and
self-worth, and it takes more than getting back up on ones
feet to regain what was lost on the inside.
It explores the reality that people who have lost loved
ones, financial stability, substance control and guidance on
the path, are everyday peoplenot just those who live in a
shelter. This story expresses that even when we fail time and
time again, whether by choice or through misfortune, God is
there to accept us with open arms.
LeAnne Kerr hails from Shreveport, LA. She is a Professional
Writing student at Baylor University and a Seeds of Hope intern.
Hunger News & Hope
Receives Best of the
Christian Press Awards
eeds is proud to announce that Hunger News &
Hope has once again received Best of the Christian
Press awards from Associated Church Press. One
of the awards for 2015 is a Best in Class Award of
Merit, and one is an Award of Merit for a theme issue,
for the Summer 2015 issue about immigration. (Special
kudos to Linda
Freeto for a huge
amount of work
on that issue!)
Spring 2016
Hunger News & Hope
Hunger News & Hope is published
quarterly by Seeds of Hope
Publishers, in partnership with the
following denominational groups:
Alliance of Baptists
American Baptist Churches USA
Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ)
Christian Reformed Church
in North America
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
Reformed Church in America
Staff and Volunteers
Editor................................L. Katherine Cook
Acting Business Manager..........John Segrest
Editorial Assistant........LeAnne Kerr
Copy Editor.......................Deborah E. Harris
Web Designer........................Lance Grigsby
Social Media Editor......Chelle Samaniego
Library Assistant.......................Bill Hughes
Artists.............Robert Askins, Sally Askins,
Peter Yuichi Clark, Robert Darden,
Van Darden, Jesse Manning,
Erin Kennedy Mayer, Lenora Mathis,
Kate Moore, Sharon Rollins,
Susan Smith, Rebecca Ward
Seeds of Hope
Council of Stewards
Sara Alexander
Guilherme Almeida
Sally Lynn Askins, Vice Pres.
Meg Cullar
Derek S. Dodson
Deborah E. Harris, Corresp. Secretary
Sandy Londos, Recording Secretary
B. Michael Long, President
Board of Advisors
Dale A. Barron
H. Joseph Haag
Kathryn Mueller
Jo Pendleton
Jacquline L. Saxon
Jon Singletary
Statement of Purpose
Seeds of Hope is a private, independent
group of believers responding to a common burden for the poor and hungry of
Gods world, and acting on the strong
belief that biblical mandates to feed the
poor were not intended to be optional.
The group seeks out people of faith
who feel called to care for poor and
hungry people; and to affirm, enable
Quotes, Poems & Pithy Sayings
ervice to others is the rent you pay for your
room here on earth.
Muhammed Ali
The test of the morality of a society is what it
does for its children.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
We are not too generous. We have been willing
to see hundreds of thousands of children go to
bed, if they have any beds at all, too hungry
to sleep and sometimes too weak to rise on
the next morning to await the bus for school.
Jonathan Kozol
When you are hungry, you cant think about
anything else.
Juana Janie Mendez, 17
Its easy to talk about others poverty. Only
rarely do we understand how little we know.
Will D. Campbell
Feeding the hungry is a greater work than raising the dead.
St. John Chrysostom
The very worst development of recent years, I think, is that people no
longer feel a sense of horror (or even uneasiness) in the face of injustice
that wrecks human lives.
John Howard Griffin
Congregations should not be allowed to drop a few extra bucks in the
plate on a special Sunday or suffer a meal of rice and beans and then
think, Well, thats over for another year.
Raymond Bailey
and empower a variety of responses to
the problems of poverty.
Editorial Address
Seeds is housed by the community of
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holds the 501(c)3 nonprofit tax status.
Seeds of Hope also produces Sacred
Seasons, a series of worship materials
for the liturgical yearwith an attitude
toward justice, peace and food security
for all of Gods children. These include
litanies, sermons, childrens and youth
activities, bulletin art and drama.
Scripture quotations, unless
otherwise noted, are from the New
Revised Standard Version, Copyright
2003 by the National Council of
Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used
by permission.
