RSSHeal a Hurting World This Thanksgiving
November, 25 2008
This Thanksgiving as we celebrate the start of the holiday season, Episcopal Relief & Development is providing Episcopalians with an opportunity to honor their loved ones by giving a symbolic gift to benefit people living in extreme poverty. With our Gifts for Life catalog, you can:
* Purchase a goat or a flock of chickens for a family struggling with hunger.
* Educate a child orphaned by AIDS for a year.
* Give a family the gift of fishing supplies to help them eat and earn a living.
* Help rebuild an entire house after a disaster.
“Even the smallest gifts can make a huge difference for the millions of people who suffer from poverty,” said Rob Radtke, president of Episcopal Relief & Development. “Gifts range in price from $12 mosquito nets that prevent the spread of malaria, to $20 shares in the purchase of livestock that can help families pull themselves out of poverty and cultivate a sustainable living, to our high impact gifts that transform entire communities and radically change the lives of multiple recipients.”
Families, church and school groups may consider working together to give a high impact gift. For example, for $5,000, a group can build a well and a water sanitation system that serves an entire village and can save countless lives. Since over 1.6 million people die each year from contaminated water and thousands of hours are lost searching for clean water, this gift makes a tremendous and immediate impact.
Another exciting gift idea that is empowering and transforming communities around the world is the promotion of Episcopal Relief & Development’s certified Fair Trade, organic and shade-grown coffee, Bishops Blend. Episcopal Relief & Development partners with Pura Vida Coffee to produce a premium line of specialty-grade coffees purchased directly from small coffee farmers. Purchasing Bishops Blend provides families with the basic necessities for a life of dignity: clean water, nutritious food, health care, education and a living wage.
Episcopal Relief & Development now offers various gift baskets that make the perfect holiday present for the coffee lover. The new Bishops Blend Premium Coffee Basket comes with a hand-made square coffee basket, a French Press, the Pura Vida Coffee recipe book and a bag of Kaldi’s Roast. To learn more about these special gift opportunities or to place an order, visit our site at http://www.er-d.org/BishopsBlend.
To learn more about Gifts for Life, Bishop’s Blend and many of other ways that Episcopal Relief & Development is healing a hurting world read the Thanksgiving edition of our newsletter, ERD Now.
To alleviate poverty and transform commitments around the world, please donate to Episcopal Relief and Development online at www.er-d.org, or by calling 1-800-334-7626, ext. 5129. Gifts can be mailed to: Episcopal Relief & Development, PO Box 7058, Merrifield, VA 22116-7058.
Episcopal Relief & Development is the international relief and development agency of the Episcopal Church of the United States. As an independent 501(c) (3) organization, Episcopal Relief & Development takes its mandate from Jesus’ words found in Matthew 25. Its programs work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Together with the worldwide Church and ecumenical partners, Episcopal Relief & Development strengthens communities today to meet tomorrow’s challenges. We rebuild after disasters and empower people by offering lasting solutions that fight poverty, hunger and disease, including HIV/AIDS and malaria.
