Recent grants have been given from the Church of the Brethren’s Global Food Crisis Fund (GFCF) to a partnership project with the Shepherd Society of Bethlehem Bible College in Palestine, and to an agriculture project of ECHO, Inc., in the Dominican Republic.
An allocation of $10,000 has been given for a partnership with the Shepherd Society of Bethlehem Bible College, a non-profit organization that was visited recently by Church of the Brethren staff and Mission and Ministry Board members. The Shepherd Society makes contacts with NGOs and municipal organizations seeking to identify short-term jobs for unemployed Palestinian workers. Its micro-projects program provides loans to help families start their own small businesses or develop already-established businesses. The grant provides assistance for job creation and micro-projects. It is given in coordination with a grant from the Emergency Disaster Fund (see related report from the EDF).
An allocation of $4,400 has been given to ECHO Inc. for scholarships for participants attending ECHO’s Caribbean-wide agricultural conference in Santo Domingo, D.R., in October. The Conference will provide a network and training opportunity for those involved in alleviating hunger and poverty in the Caribbean Region. This conference will be offered in Spanish, Haitian Creole and English. Registration for the conference costs $220 per person; the grant will provide scholarships for 20 participants. ECHO is assuring the Church of the Brethren up to five scholarships to be used for Brethren coming from Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The balance of the scholarships will be awarded to other participants by ECHO staff, based on financial need.
For more about the Global Food Crisis Fund go to www.brethren.org/gfcf .