Broken Bread Poverty Meal, Oct. 16, 2008

What is Broken Bread?

The Broken Bread Poverty Meal is a creative activism event sponsored by World Vision's Acting on AIDS. Participants are invited to identify, interact with and intercede for those broken by the cycle of AIDS, poverty and hunger. Using a simple porridge meal, true-to-life stories, discussion, prayer and advocacy, students are invited to engage their faith and respond with their hearts and through their citizenship.

National Broken Bread is Oct. 16 for World Food Day

Our next national Broken Bread day is Thursday, October 16, 2008 to coincide with World Food Day. We invite you to organize a group of students and friends to engage in this meal together. Use it as a time of reflection and a rededication of your hearts to pray, advocacy and contribute on behalf of those most affected by poverty and hunger. More resources for Broken Bread will be available in August. For now, read on about Broken Bread and how to order your materials.

If you are interested in hosting Broken Bread on your campus, please sign-up by Monday, September 15, by e-mailing actingonaids@worldvision.org.

How to order

No money is required to submit the order, so e-mail us today! To participate in the Broken Bread Poverty Meal, please e-mail the following information to actingonaids@worldvision.org.

Name of your university/participating group
Name of contact person
Contact phone number and e-mail address
Shipping address
Date of the event
Anticipated number of participants

After the event:
CSB costs you nothing but we do ask for a contribution to defray shipping and handling. Please be prepared to send us $20 per box of CSB (feeds 100 people) you receive. Click here to download the donation form to send in with your check.

Why?

The Broken Bread Poverty Meal is an excellent way for you and others on your campus to experience a moment in the life of a child who is broken by poverty, hunger and HIV. It creates an opportunity for reflection, conversation and response that can be instrumental in touching students’ hearts and influencing a long-term response. To respond in true compassion, it is necessary to identify with others, and this meal is designed to create a forum for that.

Uniting campuses together on one national Broken Bread Poverty Meal day has a two-fold purpose:

1. We desire to continue to build our national network and create synergy between local, regional and national groups in this fight against global AIDS and poverty.
2. World Food Day (WFD) is a worldwide event designed to increase awareness, understanding and informed, year-around action to alleviate hunger. It is observed each October 16 in recognition of the founding of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1945. The first World Food Day was in 1981. In the United States, the endeavor is sponsored by 450 national, private, and voluntary organizations. What better way to commemorate this day than to unite in remembrance and action focused on global poverty and hunger?

Steps to organize

As with all Acting on AIDS events, we encourage you to take the basics of this event and creatively tailor it to your campus’ culture. We encourage you to make it your own.
Click out this link to find out more about Broken Bread

Here are a few basic ideas to organize this meal.

1. Order materials. See the directions at the end of this document.
2. Locate a venue to host the meal. Consider the cafeteria, dorms, an outside location, a church, etc. Remember that you need to have a stovetop to prepare the porridge.
3. Advertise the event for at least one week.
4. Encourage students to fast for at least one meal prior to the event, if not an entire day. Coming to the meal truly hungry heightens the experience and helps participants to engage their hearts.
5. Download the program guide and story cards. The program guide includes the receipe to prepare the porridge. You can print these in color or in grayscale. Try to have one card for every participant, given to him or her when they receive the porridge. Program guide (PDF). Story card-front (PDF). Story card-back (PDF).
6. Set the stage. Make sure to plan enough time to prepare the food, and the venue. Consider simulating a food distribution line in a refugee camp—long, slow serving lines; standing in silence; no formal seating; etc. Once they receive their porridge and story card, invite participants to sit in small groups, reading their stories in silence while they eat. Then, invite the groups to discuss their stories, their thoughts and impressions, and take time to pray.
7. Submit a donation for shipping and handling. CSB costs you nothing, but we do ask that you submit $20 per box of CSB you receive to help defray the cost of shipping and handling. Click here to download the donation form to send in with your check. Please mail donations no later than November 9.