2 things -- comments invited

[Evelyn Piety]

1. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/techchron/detail?blogid=19&entry_id=41528 I’d like to hear your comments on this. Our Global Reconciliation Committee has been considering doing micro-finance loans through Kiva, but the mechanics of it seem a bit complicated for a group as opposed to individuals. We talked about this news story last night and this may be a deal-breaker for us. I was particularly concerned about the statement that “poverty is everywhere.” Yes, it is, but EXTREME poverty is not everywhere. Any thoughts about Kiva vs. Five Talents?

 

2. Has anyone had experience with Stop Hunger Now? ( www.stophungernow.org ) We heard a presentation about this at a meeting of our Haiti Partnership and we’re very interested in doing a major packing event, possibly as soon as October. If anyone has done this we’d welcome comments, advice, suggestions, etc.

 

Thanks/blessings,

 

Evelyn Piety

West Tennessee

 

"Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten; nor the hope of the poor be taken away."

 

[Elaine Thomas]

Evelyn – I enjoy giving through Kiva because of the detail and updates I get about the borrower. I do tend to focus my giving on those countries that are most impoverished, especially to support women. Both Kiva and 5 Talents are great organizations.

 

_________________________________________________

Elaine E. Thomas, PHR/CEBS

Director of Human Resources

ECS

225 S. 3rd Street

Philadelphia, PA 19106

215.351.1430 B

215.351.0294 F

www.ecs1870.org

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[Eleanor Braun]

Evelyn - good to hear from you.

 

A couple of thoughts...

 

I'm pretty familiar with Five Talents, since they office on the campus of my church (the old rectory).  The advantage of Five Talents is that they work through and with local Anglican churches.  So they are working with an existing network, which provides the social structure that help entrepreneurs succeed - and pay back the loans.  They put a lot of emphasis on business training, which also increases success.

 

It matters to some people that 5 Talents was founded by some of the people who have left the Episcopal Church.  Marty Minns was chairing the board up until a few years ago.  The staff tries to straddle the divide between TEC and the breakaways.  That does not matter to me, because I think they are doing God's work, and what they think about the current unpleasantness is not that important.  The Executive Director, Craig Cole, is also on the board of E4GR.

 

I know a couple of people in DioVa have been enthusiastic about Stop Hunger Now, and similar packaging efforts.  I don't think it is an effective way to achieve the MDGs. 

 

It's sort of the  "Give a man a fish; feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish; feed him for a lifetime" idea.  Packaging food and sending it overseas is very satisfying for the one doing the packaging, but it does nothing for the recipient in the long run (emergency famines are another thing).  Achieving the MDGs is more than giving a (person) a fish; more even than teaching a (person) to fish -- it's making sure the wealthy countries aren't poaching in the developing countries fishing grounds, that the fisherperson can get a fair price for the fish, etc., etc.

 

That's my opinion, others mileage may vary.

 

Eleanor Braun

Diocese of Virginia

[Devon Anderson]

I agree with Eleanor, Evelyn.  I like the connection to the Anglican Communion and Five Talents is a testament that despite theological divides we can partner across them in mission.  You don't get very much information back about the people that you've invested in, unlike Kiva, but my question to that would be: is the donation for the people themselves or for our own satisfaction in giving?  It's probably a combination of both, but I would assert that the efficacy of the donation/partnership is most important and not knowing details about the loan you've made is a small price to pay.  That's my two cents.

Devon Anderson

[John Miers]

Eleanor.  I have been very pleased with Kiva.  I get choice, and I get to direct where and how my funds are going.  It does matter to me that 5 Talents is being run by breakaway groups.  There is more than enough need that we can be selective in our giving and still make a significant difference.

 

JOhn

 

John G. Miers
5510 Huntington Parkway
Bethesda, MD 20814

Johng...@comcast.net

No trees were harmed in the transmission of this email, although a few electrons were mildly inconvenienced.

 
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From: E4...@googlegroups.com [mailto:E4...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Eleanor Braun
Sent: Friday, June 12, 2009 3:07 PM
To: Evelyn Piety
Cc: e4...@googlegroups.com
Subject: E4GR Re: 2 things -- comments invited

[bpet...@er-d.org]

The following link is what Episcopal Relief & Development is doing in the area of microfinance programs.   Our focus is on addressing the root causes of poverty by creating income-earning opportunities for families. We are currently working with 115,000 individuals through our microfinance programs.  I have also attached a short paper on our approach to microfinance and a description of our work in Haiti.  Most all of our programs are done in conjunction with Anglican partners in over 40 countries. 

 

ü      http://www.er-d.org/Create_Economic_Opportunities/

 

 

Brian Sellers-Petersen

Director of Church Engagement

Episcopal Relief & Development – Healing a hurting world

1551 Tenth Avenue East

Seattle, WA  98102

206-390-0750

bpet...@er-d.org

www.er-d.org

 

 

 

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:

This message is intended solely for the addressee(s) in the first instance and may contain confidential information.  Please do not forward this email without the consent of the sender.

 

-----Original Message-----
From: E4...@googlegroups.com [mailto:E4...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Devon Anderson
Sent: Friday, June 12, 2009 12:12 PM
To: Eleanor Braun
Cc: Evelyn Piety; e4...@googlegroups.com
Subject: E4GR Re: 2 things -- comments invited

 

I agree with Eleanor, Evelyn.  I like the connection to the Anglican Communion and Five Talents is a testament that despite theological divides we can partner across them in mission.  You don't get very much information back about the people that you've invested in, unlike Kiva, but my question to that would be: is the donation for the people themselves or for our own satisfaction in giving?  It's probably a combination of both, but I would assert that the efficacy of the donation/partnership is most important and not knowing details about the loan you've made is a small price to pay.  That's my two cents.

Devon Anderson

[Robert Runkle]

Dear Evelyn:

Just a positive reinforcement! We at the Diocese of Spokane have used Kiva for the past two years and are really pleased. Our only minor complaint is that it is not designed for groups and individuals must apply. But we love the concept of a perpetual giving approach, as each loan is repaid. My own congregation also has "spent" part of our congregational MDG funds via Kiva for two years as well. The other potential issue is that we frequently are limited in the total amount of "loan" we can make to any single person. But the beauty of that is that more individuals are served.

A significant part of the funds invested by the Diocese has gone to the ERD funds, particularly those associated with water projects. We also have a really active member of our commission who is a Vietnam vet and as a result of his recommendation we supported F.O.C.H.V.N.

Friends of Central Highlands Viet Nam (FOCHVN)

Box 123

Kersey, PA 15846

Attn: The Vinh Son Orphanage

www.fochvn.org

For us, the fun of MDGs has been looking into various ways to invest our funds!

Peace, Bob

--
Robert S. Runkle
1004 E. Autumn Crest Loop
Post Falls, ID 83854
208-777-0815 home
208-691-2499 cell
rru...@gmail.com

[Madeleine Beard]

Hi John and everyone

I support both Kiva and through Microplace https://www.microplace.com/  - which pays interest - this may be a "selling point" for people who want to invest domestically and have a return on their money.

Madeleine+

Deacon
St. Mark's Highland
MD Episcopal Public Policy Network
http://www.meppn.ang-md.org  

"We must hold our hands high over one another, forming a living sanctuary, our protection and canopy, a sacred space, though a sorrowful one." from Daniel Berrigan's Uncommon

-----Original Message-----
From: John Miers <johng...@comcast.net>
To: 'Eleanor Braun' <eleano...@gmail.com>; 'Evelyn Piety' <epi...@comcast.net>
Cc: e4...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 3:35 pm
Subject: E4GR Re: 2 things -- comments invited

Eleanor.  I have been very pleased with Kiva.  I get choice, and I get to direct where and how my funds are going.  It does matter to me that 5 Talents is being run by breakaway groups.  There is more than enough need that we can be selective in our giving and still make a significant difference.

 

JOhn

 

John G. Miers
5510 Huntington Parkway
Bethesda, MD 20814

Johng...@comcast.net

No trees were harmed in the transmission of this email, although a few electrons were mildly inconvenienced.
 
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.

 

 

---

From: E4...@googlegroups.com [mailto:E4...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Eleanor Braun
Sent: Friday, June 12, 2009 3:07 PM
To: Evelyn Piety
Cc: e4...@googlegroups.com
Subject: E4GR Re: 2 things -- comments invited

Evelyn - good to hear from you.

 

A couple of thoughts...

 

I'm pretty familiar with Five Talents, since they office on the campus of my church (the old rectory).  The advantage of Five20Talents is that they work through and with local Anglican churches.  So they are working with an existing network, which provides the social structure that help entrepreneurs succeed - and pay back the loans.  They put a lot of emphasis on business training, which also increases success.

[Margaret McCann]

Stop Hunger Now is a great organization! The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina has done a packing event, and I know of other groups in the Durham area (including Rotary Club and a Jewish synagogue) who have done these events. These are very well-organized activities, with several types of food that are scooped into bags, with various sizes of scoops, to produce a complete meal.

 

At the other end, when I was in Haiti last year I was excited to see Stop Hunger Now boxes piled up in a storage room at a school/church/health clinic complex. The food is given to students to take home on Fridays and given to church attendees on Sundays.

 

Meg McCann

[Cookie Clark]

I have supported 5 Talents for at least 10 years.  I heard about them on NPR and THEN discovered that they were Episcopal related.  I think they do great things and encourage people to support them.  As an accountant I really like the micro-loan concept. 
 

 Cookie Clark

 

---

From: Evelyn Piety <epi...@comcast.net>
To: e4...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Friday, June 12, 2009 11:20:29 AM

Subject: E4GR 2 things -- comments invited

[David Mesenbring]

Very few Americans know that the world's largest, private source of international microcredit is an ecumenical outgrowth of the World Council of Churches. Oikocredit (www.oikocredit.org) is a cooperative of members that are either churches or grassroots support associations.  Most of the investment money comes from Europe but its global board of directors is weighted in favor of representatives from the borrowing countries.  It is very thinly staffed on the fund raising side (especially in the US) which is why we don't (yet) know much about the organization that was formed in 1975.  Its social purpose mission concentrates on ethical delivery of microcredit through field offices (staffed by local people) in 35 of the 69 countries where its lending takes place.

 

I've been an investor for 22 years.  It pays interest every year and has never failed to repay an investor who wants their money back.  Terry Provance is a UCC minister who serves as Executive Director of Oikocredit USA.  He says that when Kiva was first getting organized, they approached Oikocredit (microfinance professionals all consider Oikocredit to be the field's giant, and its grandparent) about a partnership.  Oikocredit had ethical and legal concerns and chose not to work with Kiva but it is one of the organizations sourcing the investments offered on Microplace (which, unlike Kiva, is legally reistered to broker investment instruments).  Kiva is hugely popular because it feeds our desire to feel like we can rescue someone.  But money actually goes to/through an MFI (microfinance institutiona) partner and, unlike Oikocredit (which funds way more MFI's than any other source of microcredit). Kiva does not place limits on how much interest the ultimate borrower pays for a loan.

 

I believe that Oikocredit is one of the biggest ecumenical success stories ever and that Christians who care about the MDGs should be celebrating this huge accomplishment.  The problem is that we humans (including, if not especially, Christians) are parochial.  Ecumencal institutions hurt for support constituencies because we'd rather brag about what is "mine" than "ours."

 

Anyone can get started as an investor in Oikocredit with a $1,000 investment (that pays interest of up to 2%; and that you can get back when you need it).  After you're "in" at that level, you can gradiually increase your investment in any increment.

 

Check out the web site: www.oikocredit.org and celebrate ecumenical life among its member churches worldwide.  Whether a church joins the global cooperative at the minimum level of 250 euros or is like the Church of Sweden at millions of euros, it gets one vote at the annual general meeting.  It's a cooperative.  Maybe that's another reason why Oikoocredit ha had trouble taking off in the US.  Until now.

 

David

 

(The Revd.) David Mesenbring

Pastor for Church in the World Ministries

Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral

Seattle WA 98102     

---

From: E4...@googlegroups.com on behalf of Evelyn Piety
Sent: Fri 6/12/2009 11:20 AM
To: e4...@googlegroups.com

Subject: E4GR 2 things -- comments invited

[Daniel, Angela]

Evelyn, we have worked through Five Talents and ERD's Inspiration Fund - and have great confidence in both.  Five Talents is very open and more than willing to answer questions.  While they may not send you information on a specific individual who is benefitting from your funds, they will send "representative" information, including photographs and stories so that your congregation can see the human lives that are being changed.  ERD, of course, has a very impressive record, and the Inspiration Fund is all about the MDGs.  Thanks - Angela Daniel, lay deputy, Upper SC; St. John's Episcopal Church, Columbia.

 

Angela M. Daniel, CFRE

Director of Development

Heathwood Hall Episcopal School

3000 S. Beltline Blvd.

Columbia, SC 29201

 

p - 803.231.7734

f -  803.748.4755

dan...@heathwood.org

 

 

---

From: E4...@googlegroups.com [mailto:E4...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Evelyn Piety
Sent: Friday, June 12, 2009 2:20 PM

To: e4...@googlegroups.com
Subject: E4GR 2 things -- comments invited

[Timothy A. Skimina]

Feed My Starving Children is a group that I have looked into and feel
very good about supporting. The youth from the Diocese of Michigan
helped with a packing event last summer.

http://www.fmsc.org

They address the extreme levels of hunger with a focus on children
and work with local groups to distribute the food.

Blessings, Tim...
--
Timothy Skimina
t-sk...@northwestern.edu
773-755-6350