20 Ways Your Congregation Can Fight Hunger by Supporting SoSA

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  1. Put the Society of St. Andrew in your congregation’s annual Missions, Outreach, or Mission Promise budget. SoSA is a local, regional, and national mission, distributing food in 48 states. ($500 will share 17,500 servings of nourishing food!) Please reach out to Chesley Vohden, Director of Church Relations (church@endhunger.org or 434-299-5956) if there is an application or grant request form the Society of St. Andrew needs to submit.
  2. Make the Society of St. Andrew your congregation’s “Mission of the Month” for one month each year. During this month, take up a special collection for the Society of St. Andrew on one or more Sundays. (Invite a SoSA staffer to be with you in person or via Skype, too!)
  3. Place a loose change jar at each entrance to the sanctuary, and encourage members to drop their loose change in it each Sunday for the Society of St. Andrew. (Every 3¢ will put one serving of healthy food on the table of a needy child or family!)
  4. During Hunger Action Month (September), have an “Adopt a Fruit” or “Adopt a Veggie” fund drive for the Society of St. Andrew. Place bowls of plastic fruits or vegetables in the narthex. Label each one with a suggested donation amount of $1 to $50. Invite members to “adopt” a fruit or vegetable and make a donation to SoSA in the amount printed on the piece they “adopt.”
  5. Hold an annual Potato Dinner or Poor Man’s Supper as a fundraiser for SoSA.
  6. Make the Society of St. Andrew the missions focus for your VBS. Set a VBS offering goal amount, and do something silly with your VBS children when they exceed the goal.
  7. Hold a Simple Supper on Food Day or World Food Day in October. See the Society of St. Andrew’s website for more information.
  8. Have a yard sale, bake sale, or bazaar to benefit the Society of St. Andrew.
  9. Use the Society of St. Andrew’s Advent or Lenten devotional booklets or Good Friday Fast program in your congregation, encouraging each person/family using the booklets to make a designation for SoSA.
  10. Use the Society of St. Andrew’s Hunger Action Month Calendar for Prayer and Action in your congregation. Give each household a SoSA coin box to collect change in response to the day’s readings/activities.
  11. If you are Presbyterian, advocate for the Society of St. Andrew to receive a portion of your Presbytery’s 2¢, 4¢, or 5¢ A Meal Offerings. (Suggested amounts vary by Presbytery, and nationally this program is now known as “Cents-Ability.”)
  12. If you are United Methodist, make the Society of St. Andrew the recipient of your congregation’s Second-Mile giving through UMCOR’s Advance Special program. (SoSA is Advance project #801600).
  13. If you are Disciples of Christ, designate a portion of your Week of Compassion giving for the Society of St. Andrew. We’re a new partner with Week of Compassion!
  14. If you are near a federal installation or if your congregation has many federal workers, promote CFC (Combined Federal Campaign) giving to the Society of St. Andrew during the fall CFC selection period. SoSA is CFC #12046.
  15. Consider endowment funds within your congregation that may provide an annual gift to the Society of St. Andrew. Even $100 will feed 3,500 people each year!
  16. When your congregation offers Estate Planning workshops for its members, include information about the Society of St. Andrew in the materials you share. Contact our office for special brochures/flyers.
  17. Organize a group of runners, hikers, bicyclists, swimmers, or triathletes in your congregation to make their race(s) fundraisers for the Society of St. Andrew. We’ve even had an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker use his 2,100 mile hike to raise money for SoSA!
  18. Organize a “Mile of Pennies” collection for the Society of St. Andrew. It takes about 85,000 pennies, laid side-by-side, to cover 5,280 feet or one mile. But those pennies, given to the Society of St. Andrew, will provide 29,750 servings of food for our neighbors in need!
  19. Make the Society of St. Andrew the recipient of your congregation’s Souper Bowl of Caring offerings on Souper Bowl Sunday. Visit the Souper Bowl page on SoSA’s endhunger.org website or tacklehunger.org for more information on this program.
  20. Encourage every Sunday School class and your men’s and women’s groups to “Feed 5,000” through their Sunday School offerings. $150, given to the Society of St. Andrew, will provide a miracle of biblical proportions, putting over 5,000 servings of healthy food on the tables of our brothers and sisters in need. 10 classes or groups, committing to raise $150 each will share over 50,000 servings of food!

Through your congregation’s giving,

God’s abundance is shared with people in need

across the United States, providing

nutrition and hope to those who need them most.

 Thank you!

… Your gifts make the Society of St. Andrew’s ministry possible! …