Is your church raising funds for Episcopal Relief and Development Earthquake relief for Turkey and Syria or through another organization? Please remember that our Global Goals Task Force provides opportunities in the fall for Matching Grants (applications due Nov. 1) for up to $750 for exactly this kind of support of parish contribution to our neighbors in distress around the world.
Bishop Stokes has already given an appeal for urgent help for this region the situation worsens daily. Episcopal Relief and Development has established a designated fund to help with basic needs and search and rescue efforts. Please keep track of your parish’s efforts in fundraising and efforts. Remember in the fall that congregations may apply for more than one grant.
Holy One, you are our comfort and strength
in times of sudden disaster, crisis or chaos.
Surround us now with your grace and peace
through storm or earthquake, fire or flood.
By your Spirit, lift up those who have fallen,
sustain those who work to rescue or rebuild,
and fill us with the hope of your new creation;
through you, our rock and redeemer.
– Jesuit Prayer
Here is how the Global Goals Matching Grant Program works:
The Diocesan Global Goals Task Force offers matching grants each year to parishes engaged in international development and relief work, and up to $750 is available per project. The applicant decides which partner organization to support and may request matching funds for either an ongoing or a new project. Each project must address at least one of the Sustainable Development Goals in an international location. Congregations can apply for more than one grant.
In the year 2000, nations from throughout the world formally joined together with the common cause of eradicating extreme poverty. Their work has been guided and held accountable by, first, the eight Millennium Development Goals and, now, the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, 2016-2030). The Sustainable Development Goals, also known as the Global Goals, are listed at the end of this document.
In response to the vow made in our Baptismal Covenant to “strive for justice and peace among all people,” The Episcopal Church has dedicated 0.7% of its annual budget to support the achievement of the MDGs/SDGs since 2006 and has charged each diocese and congregation to do the same. In our own diocese, the Diocesan Global Goals Task Force, which is charged to create a Diocesan-wide movement to promote awareness of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to help congregations develop plans to assist in their achievement, oversees the distribution of this 0.7% through the Global Goals Matching Grants program. Since the beginning of the Matching Fund, participating congregations and organizations have enabled upwards of $13,000 annually to be distributed to a variety of organizations which are fighting extreme poverty beyond our borders. In the past, grants have been given to congregations across the diocese to further God’s work among the poor.
The Global Goals Matching Grant Program encourages congregations in the Diocese of New Jersey to support the eradication of extreme poverty by providing matching funds for projects supported by the congregation. A grant of up to $750 per project is available to match funds raised and donated by the applicant. The applicant decides which partner organization to support and may request matching funds for either an ongoing or a new project. Each project must address at least one of the SDGs in an international location. Congregations can apply for more than one grant.
For more information, please contact The Very Rev. Dr. Caroline Carson
~ Photo courtesy of Act Alliance
