Blogathonning for the Episcopal Relief & Development Fund

In past Blogathons, I’ve raised money for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.  Both have been and remain worthy organizations and I remain a supporting member of both.

This year, though, I’m going to take a little different tack, supporting the Episcopal Relief & Development fund.  The ERD is the international relief and development agency of the Episcopal Church.  You’ve seen the name here before; they were one of the organizations at the forefront of Katrina relief, and a lot of what they do is targeted at assisting after disasters.  The ERD also, though, plays a role in development of programs to fight poverty, prevent disease, provide health care and food security, and address the HIV/AIDS epidemic overseas.  To quote from their fact sheet:

Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) saves lives and builds hope in communities around the world. ERD provides emergency assistance in times of disaster. When the immediate crisis is over, ERD rebuilds devastated communities and offers long-term solutions in the areas of food security, health care, and HIV/AIDS.

• Episcopal Relief and Development’s work focus on four program areas: emergency relief and rebuilding, food security, primary health, and HIV/AIDS.
• ERD partners with Episcopal and Anglican Churches and ecumenical organizations to servesuffering people in communities worldwide.
• In the United States, ERD partners with local dioceses after natural and human-made disasters to provide critical supplies, such as food, shelter, and medicine, to people in need.
• ERD works in communities around the world including Latin America, Africa, and Asia to rebuild communities, to address needs associated with food security and primary health.
• Episcopal Relief and Development is an independent, 501(c)3 non-profit organization governed by a 20-person Board of Directors.

The ERD’s “mandate” is based on Matthew 25:37-40:

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'”

Despite being being affiliated with the Episcopal Church, the ERD does not place any religious requirements or strings to the folks it benefits (that’s just not what we Episcopalians do).  Nor, I hasten to add, does it require you to be Episcopalian in order to donate. 🙂

The programs the ERD works with are described here (news bulletins here).  Another summary of their work is here:

Accomplishments for Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 2006

1. ERD worked in a total of 32 countries in 2006 with integrated clean water and sanitation programs, HIV/AIDS education and prevention programs, agricultural development and income generation programs and micro credit investments. ERD’s integrated development programs impacted over 1 million people.
2. During 2006, ERD instituted a malaria prevention program in 7 countries in Africa. Working in Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia, ERD impacted almost 450,000 people by conducting training and education around malaria prevention and providing long lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets. From 2006-2008 this program will expand into 16 countries to impact 3 million people.
3. ERD continued to support about 100,000 people in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and together with its partners provided case management for survivors of the storm, with home rebuilding and repair in the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and New Orleans, and psycho social services and medical services instituted throughout the affected areas.

Objectives for Fiscal Year Beginning January 1, 2007

1. Expand ERD’s integrated food security and primary health work to 42 countries.
2. Continue to provide safe havens for those fleeing increasing violence in Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and other conflict torn areas.
3. Integrate reforestation and soil conservation into all food security programs in the Caribbean.

The ERD is a 501(c)(3) organization in US tax law (which means contributions are considered charitable).  It’s financials are all located here. 

The BBB report on the ERD is here; it shows 81% of funds go to programs (9% to administrative, 10% to fund raising).  That’s well within general charitable organization recommendations.  There’s a more detailed report on them at Network for Good.

I tried to do some digging around online to find anyone with anything bad to say about the ERD.  Aside from it have the taboo (to some folks) “E” word in its name, I was unable to find anything.  Some Anglican provinces have decided to decline any grants or projects funded by the ERD because of all the Naughty Things the Episcopal Church has done (though I don’t recall doctrinal orthodoxy being a condition in the Matthew text above, or in the parable of the Good Samaritan; indeed, in the latter, the very point of the tale is that the “true neighbor” was someone of  a, to the audience, heretical group).

Anyway, the bottom line is that I consider the ERD a worthwhile charity to support.  If you have any questions about them, feel free to give me a holler and I’ll try to find the answers.

The way the Blogathon works (to repeat myself) is that, in exchange for the entertainment of my staying up 24 hours and blogging at least once every half hour, you get to pledge a donation to (in my case) the ERD.  You don’t send me money.  (Well, you can if you want … 🙂 )  You don’t give a credit card number to anyone.  You don’t even do anything until after 28 July.  In theory, you never have to do it.  All that will happen is that, after the dust settles, you’ll get an e-mail from the Blogathon folks, reminding you of your pledge.

And that’s it.  Assuming you’re an honorable person (which is likely, given that you read me), you’ll do and do that donation thing you pledged to do.

The ERD accepts online donations, or by mail or phone.  You have a ton of different funds within the ERD you can choose between, etc. and so forth. 

It’s a good cause.  Hope you can help (and enjoy the comedy gold of watching me be punchy, all at the same time).

Support me and the ERD.