Faiths target hunger

"It's vicious and counterproductive," he told The Evangelist -- and added that he believes politicians have only encouraged this negative attitude on the part of their constituents.

To halt that process, the Faith and Hunger Network will hold an "action conference" on Jan. 21, titled "Mobilizing Faith Communities to End Hunger." The event is co-sponsored by a host of organizations, including Catholic Charities of the Albany Diocese, the Capital Area Council of Churches, Troy Area United Ministries, Schenectady Inner City Ministries and the New York State Community of Churches, as well as the Hunger Action Network of New York State, Bread for the World, the Lutheran Statewide Advocacy and the Episcopal Public Policy Network.

Hunger remains

Joseph Buttigieg of Albany diocesan Catholic Charities, a member of the conference's steering committee, told The Evangelist that about 85 percent of those coming to Catholic Charities for help are earning $16,000 or less per year.

"The wages for folks at the bottom of the spectrum haven't kept pace with inflation," he said.

The upcoming conference is aptly timed, he added, because "all the faith groups are finding people are coming to them" for aid. "Faith groups have always maintained that people have a right to the basics of life: food, clothing, shelter."

Themes

* Child care "might not seem connected to hunger, but when a parent is working at a low-paying job and has to put his child in child care, that's a good part of your pay gone before you even start," said Mr. Kriefall.

* The Faith and Hunger Network supports raising the minimum wage and state subsidies for child care.

* Mr. Kriefall called education "one of the most important components in generating a self-sufficient worker. The imperative [of welfare reform] has been, `Get a job,' but it might be much more productive in the long term to get a degree first. Counties are at liberty to give people credits for taking courses at community colleges, but there isn't any kind of state imperative."

He noted that different workers are at different levels of educational ability: For some, an English-as-a-second-language course might be necessary before proceeding; others might need a high-school equivalency degree or an associate's degree, still others a bachelor's degree.

Working families

"Welfare families are now working families; hungry families are working families," he said.

Last year's three conferences by the network gathered more than 160 people. Mr. Kriefall believes this success stems from the fact that the conferences do more than express concern. Organizers spend the morning giving information on the problem of hunger and the afternoon offering direct actions people can take back to their parishes.

Pantries

He noted that volunteering at or donating to a food pantry is "becoming the first thing people think of when they say, `I should do something about this problem.' But the fundamental solution has to be done through more just social and political policies."

It's ludicrous to expect -- as some politicians have suggested -- that churches and religious organizations could solve the hunger problem, Mr. Kriefall added. To do so, he said, it's been calculated that every faith community in the country would have to increase its budget by $170,000 per year.

"It should not be an option whether people have food or not," he stated. "Our key message is that people in faith communities concerned about hunger need to become [political] advocates."

("Mobilizing Faith Communities to End Hunger" will be held Jan. 21, 2-6 p.m., at First United Presbyterian Church in Troy. For information, call the Hunger Action Network at 434-7371.)

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