One.org highlights the efforts by the Diocese of Atlanta to restore funding for programs that help children and the poor that have been cut in federal budget negotiations.
As part of our ongoing campaign to stop budgets cuts that could kill, ONE members and representatives of the Diocese of Atlanta met Tuesday with Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ state director, Camila Knowles, asking that the senator support efforts to restore critical funding that was lost in the House of Representatives’ cuts to the 2011 foreign assistance budget.
They described the Episcopal Church’s deep commitment to the Millennium Development Goals and our global neighbors living in poverty, and laid out their concerns that these cuts could mean that 400,000 HIV/AIDS patients would not receive their anti-retroviral treatment.
Assistant Bishop Keith B. Whitmore and Canon for Community Ministries Debbie Shew presented a letter from Bishop of Atlanta J. Neil Alexander, cosigned by clergy and others, along with personal letters from Episcopalian constituents, opposing these cuts that could have devastating impact on the world’s poorest and undo a lot of the gains we’ve achieved in global health and goodwill towards America.
“We thanked him,” said Shew, “for his strong leadership in bipartisan efforts to create reasoned, effective, meaningful approaches to solving our country’s debt crisis, rather than doing what was merely quick or politically expedient, and promised to stay in communication about these very important issues. We’re especially concerned about cuts potentially impacting agencies like our own Episcopal Relief & Development, which receives funding from USAID for malaria prevention and other programs in Africa, for example. So many committed people are doing extraordinary work, making significant, measurable progress. We can’t turn back now on the gains that we’ve made. As Americans and as Christians, we need to continue to engage with our Senators to ensure that life-saving programs are protected in the final package.”
Here’s a link to the diocese’s Call to Action Kit, so that you too may get involved.