The HRA Initiative
| The Hunger Relief Advocate Initiative is a joint mission project of the
Society of St. Andrew and
United Methodist Men. It has been
endorsed by the General Commission on United Methodist Men and the
National Association of Conference Presidents of United Methodist Men.
This initiative seeks to educate the church at all levels about the causes
and effects of hunger and the response to hunger that Christ demands. At
the same time, it will create opportunities for the church under UMMen
leadership to become involved in hands-on ministry with the poor on a
scale only imagined before. The HRA Initiative is funded through Meals for
Millions contributions.
The HRA Initiative has the following goals:
- Direct relief to the nation’s hungry through the delivery of about
54 million servings of food annually through the Society of St. Andrew’s
Potato Project.
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- Direct hunger relief through field gleaning in every annual
conference resulting in 60,000 volunteers salvaging 90 millions servings
of food per year for the nation's hungry.
- A full-time national HRA sponsored by United Methodist Men and
operating out of the General Commission on United Methodist Men (GCUMM)
offices in Nashville, TN.
- A part-time HRA in each UMC Conference sponsored by United Methodist
Men. Conference HRAs receive a small stipend.
- A volunteer HRA in each District and each local church.
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An HRA has the following responsibilities:
- Facilitate UMMen leadership in combating hunger.
- Advocate to the church for the poor and for children, with special
emphasis on hunger issues.
- Administer a local hunger relief gleaning ministry.
- Develop ways to increase UMMen support for the Meals for Millions
program, the funding mechanism for this initiative.
- Develop ways to strengthen Scouting ministries through hunger relief
activities.
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When fully implemented across the nation, HRAs will annually bring some
60,000 church members into direct hunger relief by salvaging and
delivering about 90 million servings of food annually for the hungry of
America in the name of Jesus Christ! That amount of food will be on top of
the 54 million servings in direct hunger relief provided through the
Society of St. Andrew’s Potato Project. |
The total amount
of food assistance that will be provided
under the HRA Initiative
is expected to total
144 million servings per year
above
the amount being done today.
The HRA Initiative is a vibrant ministry with a proven track record. Since
its inception in 1998, about twenty Conference HRAs have been established.
In just one recent year, they together coordinated over 8,000 people to
glean more than six million servings of food for hungry Americans. At the
same time, our HRAs also helped to deliver another 12 million servings of
food to those in need through the Potato Project.
The growth of the HRA Initiative in the form of additional Conference HRAs
and in more food being delivered to the hungry requires continual growth
in Meals for Millions contributions by United Methodist Men. In order to
achieve our goals of having an HRA in every conference in the U.S. and
increasing Potato Project deliveries by 54 million servings, we need to
raise about $1.8 million per year through Meals for Millions.
While $1.8 million may sound like a huge amount of money, it is certainly
attainable. In fact, if only every chartered UMMen fellowship in the U.S.
contributed just $200 per year to Meals for Millions, we would have the
needed amount of funding.
To support the HRA Initiative, every UMMen group is asked to do these
three things:
- PRAY for the Society of St. Andrew and for the HRA Initiative.
- GO GLEANING with your HRA or with the Society of St. Andrew. If you don’t
have gleaning in your area, contact the Society of St. Andrew and we will
provide you with the material you need to get started.
- DONATE at least $200 to Meals for Millions.
Follow this link to make your commitment
today.
In addition, every individual can do the first two things listed above
as well as
become a Challenge Disciple or HRA Sponsor to financially support the HRA
Initiative. Follow this link to to find out how.
  
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