My Dear Friends in Christ,

Can a simple letter produce a bold response of solidarity?

I hope so, because the lives and futures of 37 million Americans who are living in poverty are at stake.

For 36 years, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) has stood with poor and low-income people, helping them create permanent solutions to poverty, One by one, people are joining local community groups to break the cycle of poverty – and Catholics across our country are part of that change.

The annual collection to support this domestic anti-poverty program of the Church will take place on Nov. 18-19, 2006. We send 75 percent of the donations to the CCHD national office to support anti-poverty projects across the country. We keep 25 percent here in our diocese to fund local self-help initiatives to benefit our local communities.

For over ten years, CCHD has funded Faith Action for Community Equity (FACE) in its many organizing projects. FACE’s most recent success was “standing with” UNITE HERE! Local 5 hotel workers in their negotiating a new contract for better wages and working conditions.

A group receiving CCHD funds for the first time this year is Hawaii ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform NOW). One of their projects is having trained local leaders conduct a series of Credit Awareness Workshops in the leeward and windward areas of O’ahu. They teach persons skills in many areas of financial literacy and management of limited resources. The goal of ACORN is to win power for low and moderate-income people to have more control over what happens in their neighborhoods, towns and state.

CCHD is committed to helping people find permanent solutions to the problem of poverty, but they cannot do it alone. Please join in solidarity with the Catholic Campaign for Human Development to put an end to poverty in our state and in our nation.

May God bless you for your generosity.

Sincerely yours in Christ,