“Have you eaten today? 840 million people will go to bed hungry tonight.” This startling statement hangs from a post in the Adventist Development and Relief Agency exhibit at the church’s world Session. Another states, “The numbers of children who died of preventable diseases in 2003 is equal to losing all the children in France, Germany, Greece and Italy. Join ADRA. Protest Poverty.”

Today ADRA gave a check for U.S. $10,000 each to three local poverty-fighting organizations in the St. Louis area: Lydia’s House, which provides shelter for abused women; Operation Food Search, which feeds the hungry in the area; and Sunshine Ministries, which provides outreach programs. ADRA is giving 100 percent of funds from the sales of agency merchandise, such as T-shirts and hats, to these charities.

“Here at the General Conference Session we thought it would be the right thing to do as part of poverty reduction in St. Louis,” says Charles Sandefur, president of ADRA International.

So, ADRA made contacts in St. Louis and found these three organizations, which are “doing great work,” Sandefur says.

The folks at Lydia’s House, Operation Food Search and Sunshine Ministries received a very pleasant surprise just two days ago. “They’re used to having to work for a long time with donors,” he says.

Nearly 12 percent of the population in the St. Louis region is food insecure, according to Sunny Schaefer, executive director of Operation Food Search. “We think it’s great ... that they [ADRA] do this,” she says.

Dawn Stringfield, executive director of Lydia’s House, says that by this autumn, 37 women and 78 children will be housed there, and this funding will help provide for their needs.

“As the world focuses on the G-8 Summit, ADRA is doing its part in St. Louis to raise awareness on the issue of global poverty, including poverty here at home,” Sandefur stated in a press release.