By Sam Fletcher, Communications Officer, Episcopal Diocese of Spokane

Next week, we enter the season of Lent. Organizing for Mission teams, from Episcopal churches across Eastern Washington and North Idaho, will begin the process of education and fundraising to fight hunger and poverty in our local communities, and globally through the El Hogar Project in Honduras (the subject of a future article on this website).

Lent, the forty days before Easter, is a period of mindfulness of our selves and our communities — including our global community. It is a time to reflect, and a period of renewal. OFM brings people in our Diocese together to reflect on local needs and to renew and refresh our outreach to those in need.

With these weekly stories, my goal is to inform you about the history and ideas behind OFM, and help those in OFM teams by sharing their stories as they work to alleviate poverty. Speaking with Ann Winters of Christ Church in Zillah and Dianna Perrine of St. Andrew’s in Spokane (both of whom you will hear from again), I was inspired by OFM team leaders and their congregations. These two women are among many others in this Diocese who devote time and resources to leadership and hunger relief, and I’m looking forward to talking to them more.

Through the interviews for these stories, OFM has impacted my life in more ways than I expected. For me, the most challenging story to write was “Putting a Face on Hunger”, for which I spoke to Melissa Cloninger for Second Harvest, a hunger-alleviation organization that helps to feed many hungry people in the Inland Northwest. During the interview with Cloninger, Director of Community and Corporate Relations for Second Harvest, I felt pangs of grief and sadness for those who, from day to day, suffer the threat — and social stigmatization — of hunger. In Spokane County, a shocking one in nine people suffer deprivation and uncertainty regarding their next meal.

She recounted to me the story of “Daniel”, a Spokane child placed in a remedial behavior program in his school, only to discover all he needed was steady meals from day to day for his grades and behavior to improve dramatically. Cloninger’s story demonstrates the way in which OFM team efforts have real impact on real people, right here in our neighborhoods.

Any one individual cannot alleviate the problems of poverty and lack of basic resources such as food. However, I believe a community, organized and functioning as a body, will make a major difference in the lives of the less fortunate. This is why I believe OFM is worth supporting. I’m looking forward to the next forty days, as I hope you are, as we continue to explore Organizing for Mission and the people of faith who serve as the hands and feet of Christ in our Diocese.

You can learn more about OFM by visiting the OFM page.

If you would like to talk to me, you can e-mail me at samf@spokanediocese.org.