Thank You Letters

Dear One Great Hour of Sharing,

We are very thankful to you and your organization as well as to the Lord Jesus Christ. Because once upon a time we were living below poverty line and not able to come out of that situation. Moreover we all belonged to the poor and untouchable community in our state of Andhra Pradesh. By the Grace and Love of Jesus Christ and your kind support, we are now trying to overcome this poverty line.

Your funds were utilized to establish this industry and make employment for our members. Without your support we would remain below the poverty line, but your gracious hands help us to stand independently in society with our own legs. Many women ask about this kind gracious help, because they too want to work independently.

Once again we are very thankful to your loving help. Otherwise we would not have come up like this from poverty. I praise God. May God bless you richly and abundantly. May God give you good health and wealth, we are praying for you and your ministry. Please pray for us. Grace and peace be with you always. Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,
R. Loudu Mary
(Group Leader)

July 3, 2008

Dear One Great Hour of Sharing,

Many thanks to you for your recent grant.

This grant will allow us to continue to bring grassroots perspectives of sustainable agriculture practitioners and proponents to implementation of federal farm policies and programs. We were successful on many fronts in the farm bill and we are working to ensure that the programs are implemented properly with full funding.

Please feel free to contact me at any time if you would like an update or additional information. Again, thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,
Julie Hudson
Development Director
Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
Washington, D.C.

June 19, 2008

Dear Presbyterian Disaster Assistance:

We wanted to write to thank you for the PDA grant we received to help provide grief counseling and support for the folks in Forest County impacted by the Crandon tragedy.

We have set up a committee, Hope, Healing, and Healthy Choices (HHHCC), to provide ongoing guidance and planning for programs to address grief awareness and provide training and assistance to those in the county traumatized or troubled by violence and grief. Many volunteer hours have also been contributed to provide assistance to our school population, pastors, EMTs, law enforcement, funeral directors and families of those who were affected by the tragedy.

So you see this grant has started a very positive ongoing program for the area. We can be proud of what the PC(USA) has done to provide the financial resources to launch this project.

Enthusiastically,
Dennis and Wendy Mannering
Pastors, Larger Forest Parish

Dear Self-Development of People,

Young Farmers of the Lowcountry and Marshview Community Farm would like to express our sincere thanks for funding of our farm. Your support of our project means that we can purchase many of the materials and equipment needed for the upcoming growing season. We worked very hard during the summer without much, but we were successful in achieving our goal of providing a variety of healthy fruits and vegetables to the community. This goal would not have been realized if it had not been supportive and caring organizations such as yours.

Thank you again.

Dear One Great Hour of Sharing,

On behalf of the Coalition for Justice (CJO) in the Maquiladoras, I would like thank the Presbyterian Hunger Program for its generous grant for general support.

Thanks in a large part to its continuing support, CJO has been able to make great progress across its program areas and is poised to expand upon this important work in the coming year. For example, last spring, CJO organized a delegation of four women maquila workers from Mexico to Morocco, where they met with Moroccan maquila workers. This exchange was a tremendous catalyst to organizing in both countries.

In the coming year our Worker Empowerment Project will continue to train workers on their rights. The Building Women’s Leadership Internationally and Locally Project will strive to make gender, sexuality, and self-esteem workshops available to more women leaders and facilitate women leaders’ access to and participation in larger spaces dedicated to worker and community organizing. Finally, we will follow up on our work encouraging, supporting, and promoting self-sufficient/alternative economic development projects.

We thank you for your commitment and support. We are grateful for our ongoing partnership with you. Thank you for sharing our dream of building a better world with justice and dignity for all. Working together over the long haul, we know we can do it!

Sincerely,
Martha Ojeda
Executive Director
Coalition of Justice in the Maquiladoras
Missouri City, Texas

May 2, 2008

Dear Presbyterian Hunger Program,

On behalf of Isles and the communities we serve, I would like to thank the Presbyterian Hunger Program for its $4,000 contribution for Isles’ Community Gardens program in 2008.

Last year the Community Gardens harvested approximately 50,000 pounds of fresh produce for Trenton families from Isles’ 33 community gardens and increased the self-reliance of 3,000 individuals. In 2008, Isles will:

• Continue to support its active community gardens
• Work to expand its school garden program
• Formulize its Community Gardens Advisory Board
• Advocate for improved food security for Trenton residents

The PHP has been a critical partner to Isles in its work to foster more self-reliant families in healthy, sustainable communities for many years, and we appreciate your support an confidence in our work.

Sincerely,
Sonja Allen
Vice President, Resource Development
Isles
Trenton, New Jersey

Dear One Great Hour of Sharing:

Thank you so much for the Presbyterian Hunger Program’s grant to support the work of Interfaith Worker Justice. Your continued support truly makes our work possible.

Challenging hunger starts with building a base of future religious leaders who understand the connection between labor and poverty. The Bible often makes the connection as in James 5:4 “Listen! Crying aloud are the wages withheld from the farmers who harvested your land. Their cries reach the ears of the Lord of hosts.”

The work to build leaders this year is off to a promising start. I’ve attached a newspaper article in Villanova’s campus press on the Alternative Spring Break pilot program that was hosted in Washington D.C. and Philadelphia this spring. On a similar note, we have an excellent group of 60 interns this year for the summer seminarian undergraduate internship programs. It is exciting to see young people engage in our work!

Please understand how much I appreciate your support in promoting economic justice as a way to combat hunger. Thank you again.

In peace and justice,
Kim Bobo
Executive Director
Interfaith Worker Justice
Chicago, Illinois

May 2, 2008

Dear Friends,

I’m delighted to announce that Texas Impact has received a grant from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Hunger Program for 2008. The grant will support Texas Impact’s work on issues of economic and environmental justice in Texas, and we’re so grateful for the generous support of PCUSA and all the Presbyterians — including Presbyterians in Texas — who support the Hunger Program through One Great Hour of Sharing.

Texas Impact grows every year with the support of committed faith communities throughout the state. Contributions from denominational bodies, congregations, of all faiths and individuals enable us to raise a voice of religious social concern to Texas lawmakers on issues such as the environment, health care, and criminal justice.

This is an important year for civic participation in Texas. The need for people of faith to engage the public policy debate is greater than ever.

Thanks for your support for Texas Impact, and for all you do for Texas!

Love, 
Bee Moorhead
Executive Director
Texas Impact
Texas Interfaith Power & Light
Austin, Texas

Dear Self-Development of People,

On behalf of Camden United, Inc., I want to thank you again for your generous grant. It is only through the generous support of organizations such as yours that we can help the people of Camden have a say in the decisions that affect their lives. We are currently tackling the problem of abandoned houses which is a huge problem in our city. There are over 6,500 vacant houses and even more vacant lots in Camden. This blight is like a disease eating away at our community. Because of your support we have the capacity to take on such an immense problem. We are also working on our new newspaper, “Camden Speaks,” that you have helped fund, and we will publish our first issue next month.

Blessings,
Camden United, Inc.