Nickel-a-Meal Year-End Collection: December 9

Make the Change…Make a Difference

It’s time to empty those Nickel a Meal banks for the December 9 collection.  One nickel for three meals a day for 366 days comes out to $54.90 for the year.  $993.60  was collected in May.  

RELUFA logo

NICKEL A MEAL IN CAMEROON:  In the past two years about $20,000 Nickel a Meal offerings have been sent from the Presbytery of WNC to support the work of RELUFA, a national network of Cameroonian churches. and ecumenical and secular non-profit organizations. RELUFA has a wide range of activities developed around three main themes: food sovereignty, economic development and just relations.  Examples of their activities are: supporting community projects for food security; advocating the rights of indigenous peoples; micro-credit programs; outreach programs for at-risk youth.

Food sovereignty Program supported by Nickel a Meal: With the Sahara desert stretching out over the Far North Province, this part of Cameroon is permanently at the brink of famine. Through the establishment of community cereal banking systems in vulnerable villages, it is possible to break the annual cycle of exploitation by businessmen who buy subsistence farmers’ grain  for very low prices when it is abundant, then sell it back at exorbitant prices when grain is scarce.  By being able to store the grain themselves, communities control its availability.  Poor families are not forced to sell precious goats to purchase  food; they can be sold instead for other family expenses, such as sending their children to school. 

Overview of NAM for those who are new to GCPC or need a refresher course:

Nickel a Meal (NAM) is a very simple plan.  Everybody…young, old or in the middle…rich, poor or in the middle…can participate equally.  There are 3 parts to the program:  PRAYER: DISCOVERY: ACTION. Each person puts 5 cents in a designated container for each meal eaten.  That is the easily understood action.  But prayer for both those who are hungry and for ourselves as we attempt to live faithfully in a world where there is hunger and injustice is vital to real change.  And learning more, the discovery part, is important to intelligent action.

When combined with other offerings from us here at GCPC and many others from churches in the Presbytery of Western North Carolina, more than $100,000 has been given each year to programs combating hunger, homelessness and poverty.  40-45% goes to local ministries and 55-60% goes to program abroad.  See the 2011 Annual Report here. The report for 2012 will be available in January.