Texas

Sometimes it’s personal

2008-04-10T20:09:16Z

Elgin, Texas, CROP Hunger Walk Team Leader, Steve Cox, shared a very personal story with his organizing team before the community’s February 2, 2008 event.

“… I was a homeless person many years ago finding myself without food, shelter, etc. It was the people that fed me and gave me a smile back in those days 17 years ago, the people that treated me with dignity, love and respect; that gave me a reason to live. I think it’s wonderful that we have a number of places for people to reach out for help, a smile, and a taste of God’s love right here in Elgin. When I moved to Elgin three years ago, it was the smiles, the love and compassion that drew me to my First United Methodist Church “family.” I didn’t need shelter over my head or food to eat but I found the shelter I needed for my heart and soul – something I was starving for at the time. We never know just how much we’re giving someone when we feed them or house them with a smile of love on our face. We give them new life, new love, and a feeling of not being lost and alone in this big world.

Because of my personal experiences, it is my hope to be able to raise more CROP Walk funds than ever before to share our love and God’s love with people in need in our world – even in our little part of the world. If someone looks down and out, give them a smile. If they look hungry, let’s feed them. It they are out in the cold rain, give them your coat. Someone did that for me and you just have no way to know what that does in a person. Such an amazing gift that we can give it at all and that it’s not us, perhaps, that are the “less fortunate.”

Congratulations to Steve and everyone involved with the 2008 Elgin CROP Hunger Walk. The 2008 event raised $3,251 –$1,465 more than in 2007 – and 82% increase!

Spring 2008 CROP Hunger Walks

2008-01-08T16:00:08Z

CROP Walk	Walk Date
Amarillo	TBA
Austin	March 1 & 2
Bellville	February 23
Bertram	April 27
Big Lake	April 20
Canyon Lake	March 8
Cedar Hill	April 5
Clifton	MAy 3
Cuero (Wildflower)	April 13
Dallas	April 6
DeSoto	March 30
Elgin	February 2
Granbury	April 27
Grapevine/Colleyville	TBA
Hallettsville (Lavaca Co)	TBA
Greater McAllen/Edinburg	May 4
Lago Vista	TBA
Lewisville/Flower Mound	TBA
Mason	TBA
Poth	March 2
San Antonio	March 2
Temple, Belton, Killeen (Bell County)	April 6
Victoria	February 16
West Fort Bend County (Richmond, Rosenberg, Needville	April 5

Seguin

2007-12-12T14:51:23Z

Texas Lutheran University students participated with the City of Seguin annual CROP Hunger Walk on November 11, 2007. The Rev. Harry Foster, Professor of Old Testament Studies, challenged his students to "walk the walk." At that time the class was studying Old Testament prophets and their emphasis on economic and social justice. “I ‘encouraged’ my students” said Professor Foster, “by offering them the following incentives: Walk and you may 1) get ‘credit’ for one unexcused absence and 2) on our next exam, you may answer "CROP" on one question related to the Prophets.” Of the 10 students enrolled, 8 opted to Walk… an 80% participation rate!

Visit CWS on our online networks

2007-11-01T19:33:17Z

Church World Service has a MySpace page: http://myspace.com/cwscrop. We encourage you to explore the page and point others there, and if you already have a MySpace profile of your own, become a "friend" and spread the word.

CWS has created a "group" at www.Facebook.com. If you are a Facebook member, we hope you'll search for our group (Church World Service) and join it--and invite your friends!

We've also consolidated our YouTube presence at http://youtube.com/churchworldservice and created a "playlist" for CROP Hunger Walk videos that have been created by folks across the U.S. Take a look and become a subscriber.

Lastly, people can now download a variety of CWS banners and buttons for their own website, blog, or profile at http://www.churchworldservice.org/buttons.

Thanks for passing the word!

Fall 2007 CROP Hunger Walks

2007-05-22T15:22:10Z

Contact the Texas office, toll-free 888-297-2767, for 2007 CROP Hunger Walk dates and contact information in one of the communities listed below.

WALK	DATE
Bay Area (Dickinson, Friendswood, League City, Webster)	October 7
Beaumont	October 21
Big Spring	October 7
Boerne	October 7
Boundary Area (Burton)	October 7
Brenham	October 7
Bryan/College Station	October 14
Collin County (Allen, Frisco, McKinney, Plano)	November 4
Corpus Christi	November 11
El Campo	November 4
Fort Worth	October 21
Freer	October 21
Garland	November 4
Georgetown	October 21
Harlingen	November 11
Highland Lakes (Kingsland, Granite Shoals, Llano)	November 4
Hondo	October 21
Houston	November 11
Kerrville	October 21
Lago Vista	TBA
Lavaca County (Hallettsville)	October 14
Lockhart	October 13
Mansfield	September 29
Mesquite	November 4
Metrocrest (Carrollton)	September 29
Mid Cities (Bedford)	November 4
New Braunfels	November 18
Orange	November 11
Pasadena	October 7
Pflugerville	November 17
Richardson	October 21
Rockdale	October 21
Round Rock	September 22
San Angelo	October 7
Hays County: San Marcos/Wimberley	October 7
Santa Fe	October 7
Seguin	November 11
(North-NW Houston) Spring, The Woodlands, Tomball	October 14
Waco	November 4
West End (Industry)	November 11

Peace Bubble Visits Austin CROP Hunger Walk

2007-03-08T14:31:22Z

Jerry Leggett and the Peace Bubble came to Austin, Texas, and wowed some 1,600 CROP Hunger Walk participants with music and more on March 3 and 4, 2007.

Jerry came to Austin as part of his year-long tour in the Peace Bubble--a stylized Volkswagon Beetle. He invited Austinites into the Peace Bubble to answer two simple questions: "Is peace possible?" and "What do you think makes for a peaceful world?" The Peace Bubble interviews are posted on YouTube.

Just One Person

2006-08-24T19:01:24Z

Kent Blake with his dentist, Dr. Jerry P Katz, who donated toothpaste and toothbrushes for the Eagle Scout project.
View more photos in our Photo Gallery

Just one person is all it takes to help make a big difference. Kent Blake of Cedar Park, Texas, chose the Church World Service Kits Program for his Eagle Scout project. He organized his parents, church youth group and Scout troops at the Cedar Park Ward (LDS) to help. And his dentist even chipped in with toothbrushes and toothpaste for the 181 CWS Health Kits assembled and shipped to our New Windsor, MD warehouse.

CWS Shipments to Texas - Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Response

2006-08-24T18:54:14Z

As of early November 2005, CWS has made material assistance shipments valued at more than $1.8 million. A major portion of these shipments have been made to Texas.

Bay City - American Red Cross
500 CWS lightweight blankets
Total value: $2,500

Beaumont - Cristo Rey Church
510 CWS Baby Kits
2,010 CWS School Kits
1,035 CWS Health Kits
2 Boxes UNICEF Recreation Kits
Total value: $57,835

Houston - Boat People SOS
60 CWS Baby Kits
150 CWS School Kits
630 CWS Health Kits
Total value: $12,240

Keene - Adventist Community Services Disaster Response Depot
10,000 CWS lightweight blankets
10,035 CWS Health Kits
Total value: $170,455

Livingston - American Red Cross
405 CWS Health Kits
405 CWS Baby Kits
Total value: $20,655

New Braunfels – Slumber Falls Camp
1 UNICEF Recreation Box
Total Value: $200.00

San Antonio - San Antonio Food Bank
6,030 CWS Health Kits valued at $78,390

San Antonio - Bexar Co Ofc of Emer Mgmt
1,000 CWS lightweight blankets
1,020 CWS School Kits
1,035 CWS Health Kits
Total value of shipment: $31,715

Stafford, TX - International Orthodox Christian Charities
16,875 CWS Health Kits
3,750 CWS School Kits
Total Value: $251,250

Victoria - First United Methodist Church
100 CWS lightweight blankets
135 CWS Health Kits
Total value of shipment: $2,300

Your assistance – through your congregation, organization or as a family project – can help Church World Service replenish its warehouse supplies of CWS Clean Up Kits, Health Kits, and School Kits.

Mission is Possible

2006-08-24T18:47:05Z

Grades 3-5 Sunday School class at First Christian Church, Amarillo made mission possible through the Church World Service Tools & Blankets Program. This effort was part of a congregation-wide mission -- Mission: (Im)Possible – The Kingdom Assignment. Groups throughout the congregation were given $50 in “seed money” and challenged to “extend the Kingdom of God in the community.” Through the church’s request, a local agency was able to distribute 25 warm CWS woolen blankets to homeless persons last January. The Grade 3-5 Sunday School class decided to raise funds to help CWS pay for the cost of shipping the blankets to Amarillo.

We are grateful to everyone at First Christian Church, Amarillo – teachers, students, parents and those in the congregation who supported the efforts of the Sunday School class. Madison Jackson and Joel Oliver spoke on behalf of their classmates at the congregation’s celebration banquet in mid-January: “By helping others, we have learned that it’s better to give than to receive!”

Here is their story…

Neal Nossman, Chairman of FCC’s Christian Community Service Ministry Team, interviews Madison Jackson, left, and Joel Oliver on the Junior Sunday School class’s Mission (Im)possible project. The CWS bundle of 25 blankets, in the foreground, was distributed to homeless persons through Amarillo’s Tyler Street Resource Center.	Polly Hyatt, Community Resource Coordinator, Tyler Street Resource Center, accepts donation of CWS Blankets from Jonathan Wynne, Madison Jackson, Joel Oliver, Courtney Teichmann.
Jonathan Wynne, 3rd grader, works on his bookmark for the Kingdom Assignment: Mission (Im)possible Project. The class made $68 from the sales of their hand-made bookmarks to help defray shipping costs for CWS Blankets.	February 9, 2003: Dick Snyder & Marcy Mathis look over goodies at Valentine Bake Sale. Joel Oliver answers questions and Madison Jackson counts the money going into the basket” – adding $15 more for a total donation to CWS of $133 for shipping costs – the exact amount needed to defray the cost of 25 blankets shipped to Amarillo!

Church World Service knows about the commitment to mission at First Christian Church. Through the years, FCC has contributed over $12,000 to assist CWS in spreading tools of hope and blankets throughout the world. We are grateful to the congregation and their pastor, Rev. James Cobb, for their partnership with CWS.

What makes CROP unique? I'm glad you asked!

2006-08-24T18:44:40Z

1. CROP is Diverse . . . 35 communions/denominations work together in the U.S. to form partnerships with more than 400 groups and/or ecumenical church bodies in some 80 countries, including the U.S. CROP Hunger Walkers come from more than six faith traditions. That is diversity!

2. CROP Cooperates . . . Church World Service allows Walk sponsors the choice of designating their gifts to a host of international voluntary agencies. Recognizing we are all in this together, CROP lets us walk together to work together.

3. CROP Advocates Local Solutions to Local Problems . . . The partners around the world develop, propose, and implement their own projects through consultation with CWS. CWS knows that projects and programs must come from the people themselves, not be imposed by others.

4. CROP Has Experience . . . 60 years of experience grace this effort. Originally formed in response to the needs of a Europe devastated by World War II, Church World Service has grown into an organization with global impact.

5. CROP Promotes Motivation . . . CROP materials focus on the need for action as opposed to the results of inaction. CROP brings you people meeting the tough challenges of everyday life, solving their problems and gaining respect.

6. CROP Gives Locally . . . 25 percent of the money raised by a CROP Hunger Walk returns directly to the community to work in local hunger efforts. Last year, some $4 million was shared with local hunger-fighting initiatives -- pantries, food banks, and community gardens across the U.S.!

7. CROP Keeps Overhead Low and Accountability High . . . On average, just over 17.2 percent of contributed funds for the past three years has gone to management, fund raising and information sharing.

8. CROP Hunger Walks: “We walk because they walk” – in solidarity, in unity, to make a difference. Last year, CROP Walkers, volunteers, and sponsors in some 2,000 U.S. communities raised nearly $16 million to feed the hungry, protect children, assist uprooted people, and help families and communities around the world to help themselves.

CROP – Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty

Let's Unite to Feed the Hungry

2006-08-24T18:42:56Z

By Dr. Larry Bethune, pastor of University Baptist Church, 2130 Guadalupe St. He is a member of the Austin Area Interreligious Ministries. For more information about Austin Area Interreligious Ministries, go to www.aaimaustin.org.

Preaching Professor Fred Craddock tells the story of a young woman asked to give a devotional thought before one of his lectures. Her whole message was a single sentence, which she repeated in about 70 different languages, until she finally spoke it in the English her audience could understand: "Mommy, I'm hungry!"

It's a cry heard around the world; also here in Austin.

At first there were five. Then, 35. Then, we began seeing more women and children, even babies. Now, more than 200 hungry persons come to our church building on Thursday evenings to get a free meal and some staples from our food pantry. They also come to get humanizing conversation and share a moment of prayer. At first, some of our people said, "Send them away. These people add nothing to the church. They are the same ones who draw graffiti and vandalize the property." But others said, "What are we supposed to do? Why has God sent these hungry people to us?" And we remembered the unqualified words of Jesus: "I was hungry, and you fed me."

Actually, the meal isn't free. The church pays for it, without any help from the government because we believe the government has no business using your taxes for a ministry where our prayers are prayed.

We are an urban church.This ministry is a challenge for our church in cost and time. Of course, churches (and other religious communities, too) are supposed feed the hungry and assist the indigent. We ask no praise for doing what is right. But religion is also supposed to be prophetic, calling the whole society to care for those in need, to remind everyone that the real mark of greatness for any nation is not its gross national product or military might, but how it cares for "the least of these."

Every sector should do its share. Each church, synagogue and mosque, certainly. But also, business should return some of its benefits through charity to the society that enables its profits. Education should encourage its students to learn compassionate ways of sharing. Government also must help, not by passing the buck to the congregations of faith, but by developing a sound social policy to help those who cannot help themselves invest in their future in sensible ways.

How are we doing as a people? I don't know. I have heard it said,"Texans help Texans," but do we? Texas consistently ranks among the stingiest states in assisting the mentally ill and their families, the children of the indigent and their families, the homeless, even the working poor. The number of hungry in our midst, in our own city, is growing.

On the other hand, some people seem eager to help those in need. Members of Hope Presbyterian Church join us as volunteers on Thursdays because they also hear the voice of Christ: "I was hungry and you fed me." Our Jewish friends from Congregation Agudas Achim and Congregation Beth Israel help us for what they call tikkun olam ("repairing the world"). Employees of Waveset Technologies take their turn serving the poor as payback to the community that supports their business. We could not sustain this ministry without these volunteers. Because other congregations in the University of Texas neighborhood are laboring in different projects to give a hand up to those in need, we are moving toward a new coalition to unite and strengthen our efforts.

Here is reason to hope: This compassionate partnership of Christian and Jew, of religion and business, of individuals and communities shows us what is possible and that there are some big hearts in Texas.

And our program is just one of dozens in Austin where generosity in donations and volunteer time offers nourishment of body and soul to needy members of our community.

But the number of the needy keeps growing. Said the Brazilian Archbishop Don Helder Camara: "When we fed the hungry, they called us heroes. When we asked, 'Why are there so many hungry?,' they called us communists."

"Mommy, I'm hungry." Let's do what we can to help.

Riding to Walk

2006-08-24T18:39:51Z

Nothing can stop The Rev. John Schelter, Pastor of Our Saviour Lutheran Church, from his appointed CROP Hunger Walk rounds – not even foot surgery. The long-time Mesquite CROP Hunger Walk Team Leader rode into town – or at least to the CROP Hunger Walk– on Missy Tiger. Where there’s a will – and 4 strong feet – there’s a way!

Youth in Action Group Ship Kits to Tsunami Victims

2006-08-24T18:37:01Z

The Youth in Action group of Round Grove United Church UCC made and shipped 494 Health Kits for Tsunami victims. During two consecutive Sunday evenings in January 2005 the Youth in Action put together the Health Kits which were distributed through Church World Service.

Contact Us

2006-08-24T18:31:13Z

Central Office

6633 Highway 290 E, Suite 200, Austin, TX 78723
Phone: 512-451-2062
Toll-Free: 1-888-CWS-CROP (1-888-297-2767)

Fax: 512-451-2904

Director:
Howard Hartman
Support Staff:
Kevin Murphy
Audrey Jensen

Journey to the Border

2006-08-24T17:32:35Z

Hosted by Texas Church World Service

A week of learning and caring – June 14-18, 2005

CWS Texas staff Howard Hartman and Kevin Murphy accompanied 5 Texans for an exploration of issues and church-related actions and ministries in the Rio Grande Valley. This 5-day learning trip included visits with local service providers and CWS-related immigration ministries. The group visited CWS partners along the Rio Grande on both sides of the US-Mexico border. Howard, Kevin, and our participants are available for brief presentations. Call toll-free, 888-297-2767 if you are interested in arranging a presentation.