GROWing Strong, Boston Wills It

NEW FACES & GROW CAMPAIGN

Boston Oxfam Action Corps 7/7/2011

It's been a while since you last heard from us! We've been making transitions and working on new projects.

First, I'd like to introduce your new Oxfam Boston Action Corps Leaders : Emily Hubbard and Christine Ellersick. We're both thrilled to be a part of this fight for global justice!

We began this journey back in May where we joined other Action Corps leaders from across the country for Oxfam's annual Action Corps leader training in Washington, DC. The time that was spent engaging one another and learning about Oxfam's mission cannot be overlooked. However, most would agree that the most pivotal moment during the training was lobby day. On lobby day we visited Congressman Markey, Congressman Capuano, Senator Brown, and Senator Kerry's offices to express our hope that they will fully support President Obama's 2012 budget that provides essential funding for international programs like Feed the Future and the Global Agricultural Trust Fund. They were receptive and supportive. We hope this enthusiasm will reverberate in Congress!

Now we're back "on the ground." Oxfam has launched a global GROW campaign. The message is simple: The food system is broken. And as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton eloquently states, the issue is not whether we can end global hunger but whether we will. With this fire, we took to the Cambridgeport farmer's market on June 4th to spread awareness about the GROW campaign, where we had five volunteers and were approached by many who were interested in GROW's message.

Nearly one billion people--nearly one sixth of the population--is chronically hungry. Ironically, many of these hungry individuals are small farmers, farmers who don't have the means to cope with climate change and who don't have the bargaining power to demand fair prices for their goods. GROW draws our attention to these staggering facts and asks that we become part of the solution. With these efforts, and others, underway we hope that the answer to Secretary Clinton's query is a resounding, "We will."

Want to get involved? E-mail us at boston@oxfamactioncorps.org