This past spring, ELCA World Hunger rapidly responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by launching Daily Bread Matching Grants. These grants provided 200 congregations with tools to raise funds online for their feeding ministries, along with a $500 grant to drive generosity. In 14 days, the 200 congregations raised well over $200,000, and the energy and impact of the ministry fueled by those funds has been felt widely across the church.
We know that in times of need, this church gets to work and gives abundantly. Thanks to the generous response to the COVID-19 Appeal, ELCA World Hunger will be offering 300+ additional Daily Bread Matching Grants this fall. Please help us make sure that every ELCA congregation with a feeding ministry knows about this opportunity, and read on for more details.
Timeline: Details for applying via ELCA GrantMaker will be advertised on elca.org/dailybread and ELCA World Hunger’s social media on September 29. Approved participants will be notified shortly before the two-week fundraising period, which will take place November 8-22. Until then, interested congregations should email hunger@elca.org and follow ELCA World Hunger on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter for updates.
Eligibility: ELCA congregations with feeding ministries are invited to participate. Grant information will be available in Spanish and English through elca.org/dailybread. Ethnic-specific, multi-cultural and vulnerable congregations will receive priority. ELCA World Hunger staff will coordinate with DEMs to ensure that these congregations receive the support to successfully participate. Congregations that received a Daily Bread Matching Grant already this year are not eligible, but are encouraged to coach and support congregations participating in this round. Congregations without a feeding ministry can get involved by partnering with a congregation that does, multiplying their impact.
Get creative and spread the word! Daily Bread Matching Grants offer the opportunity for us to creatively be Church Together. Participating congregations have used social media to fundraise for the first time, engaged youth in leading a campaign, discovered the giving potential in the broader community, and much more – all to share the love and hope of Christ in the midst of crisis. We hope you will encourage congregations in your synod to stretch themselves, think outside the box and have fun while caring for our neighbors.
Watch and learn more through the stories of the generous gift of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Huntington Station, New York and the backpack ministry of Hope Lutheran Church in America’s raspberry capital, Lynden, Washington.
Neighbor to neighbor, community to community, congregations across the ELCA are truly church together when we creatively and courageously work toward a just world where all are fed.