Your gifts to ELCA World Hunger work through ministries such as Gathered by Grace, a worshiping community in Montgomery, Ala. The Rev. Tiffany Chaney, who leads Gathered by Grace, says they look for places where they can “fill in the gaps” of need left by government programs and other big organizations.

Members of Gathered by Grace learned from their local partners that college students in their community are at an especially high risk of food insecurity. Some have to choose between getting enough to eat or paying for tuition, textbooks and other essential supplies.

So, Gathered by Grace partnered with Trenholm State Community College to lessen that burden. The faith community has helped stock Trenholm’s food pantry, where the number of visits has more than doubled in the past year.

Gathered by Grace also worked with local businesses to serve catered meals at learning and career-building events. As members of Gathered by Grace show up for the students, they are building trusting relationships with them and their families.

It means a great deal to the members of Gathered by Grace to know that their local ministry has the support of donors across the ELCA. “It matters that people understand that we’re a part of something larger,” Pastor Tiffany says. “We’re not just in this alone.”

Donors such as you are supporting Gathered by Grace through an ELCA World Hunger Daily Bread grant. These $500 grants go to congregations that serve their closest neighbors through feeding ministries. In 2025, ELCA World Hunger received nearly 1,000 applications for Daily Bread grants, which is more than 15 times the number of applications they received in 2024.

A meal can be so much more than just food. Pastor Tiffany says that having enough to eat impacts our bodies, of course. But it also impacts whether students can learn, and whether parents can care for their children and themselves. “It makes a difference whether people are able to be their best selves,” she says.

Community change, affecting the real lives of people, is among some of the best work the church can achieve. In Thailand, the Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT), through its Social Development & Service Unit (SDSU), is dedicated to assisting in solving problems through holistic development and to help the church be an agent of change.

The overall goal of this work is to equip and empower communities to develop their potential for self-development. This happens through leadership development with training and engagement in community development; agricultural development that enhances sustainable income generation; holistic health promotion; and gender justice, child protection and elder care. Elder care, in particular, brings a special connecting point for the community.

And it is here that the real outcome of this work can best be observed, with the smiles of people. There are the smiles and happiness seen in the elderly, which serve as a powerful testament to what they yearn for most: the feeling of being valued and not left behind. These come as the result of elderly home visits and community gatherings. Many participants are reunited with long-lost friends, leading to a community-wide calling for these joyful spaces to return.

This spark of happiness has led to sustainable change within the churches. Today, many have established volunteer teams to provide close care and love to the elderly. Furthermore, these actions have gained recognition from the government. Local Social Welfare Departments are now integrating their work with churches to extend these community activities year-round—ranging from therapeutic foot soaks to preserving local wisdom.

Your support for ELCA World Hunger is more than just a one-time event. It is a “Seed of Hope.” It has grown into a strong collaboration between the church, the community, and the government to sustainably care for the hearts of the elderly.

Lahu Villagers at Elderly Home Visits & Community Gathering
Chiang Mai, Thailand

ELCA World Hunger’s Daily Bread Grants support congregations and their partners as they work toward a just world where all are fed. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) congregations with feeding ministries are eligible to participate. ELCA World Hunger’s Daily Bread Grants are one way our church accompanies communities throughout the United States and the Caribbean as they respond to hunger and poverty. These grants provide daily bread for neighbors experiencing hunger by supplementing existing food-based ministries. 

You may submit a request for a Daily Bread Grant beginning October 1st. Feeding Ministry funding requests will be accepted through October 21st at midnight central time and they are for $500. Funding is for ELCA Congregations with a feeding ministry.  

A Microsoft Word version is available upon request, please email hunger@elca.org. Otherwise, applications will only be accepted via this online form beginning October 1st: Feeding Ministry Funding Request – Fill out form 

Application Timeline:  

• Letter of inquiry form open: Thursday, October 1st – Wednesday, October 21st 2026 

• Award notifications shared with applicants: November 2026 

• Banking & Payment dispersal: December, 2026 

Who can apply: 

ELCA Congregations & Ministries with an existing feeding ministry including: 

• New Starts 

• Synodically Authorized Worshipping Communities (SAWCs) 

• Strategic Ministries 

• Congregations in Development 

• Synodically Authorized Outreach Ministries (SAOMs) 

• Campus Ministries 

Thank you for all you do to work creatively and courageously toward a just world. If you have any questions about the process or about ELCA World Hunger, please reach out to our team at Hunger@elca.org or give us a call at 773-380-2616.  

APPLY FOR DAILY BREAD GRANT

Subvenciones para el Pan Diario de ELCA World Hunger 

¡Se abrirán próximamente las solicitudes para las Subvenciones de Igualación Daily Bread 2026 de ELCA World Hunger! 

Las Subvenciones Daily Bread de ELCA World Hunger apoyan a las congregaciones y sus socios mientras trabajan por un mundo justo donde todos sean alimentados. Las congregaciones de la Iglesia Evangélica Luterana en América (ELCA) con ministerios de alimentación son elegibles para participar. Las Subvenciones Daily Bread de ELCA World Hunger son una forma en que nuestra iglesia acompaña a comunidades de Estados Unidos y el Caribe mientras responden al hambre y la pobreza. Estas subvenciones proporcionan pan diario a los vecinos que sufren hambre al complementar los ministerios ya existentes de alimentación basada en la alimentación. 

Puede presentar una solicitud de subvención para el pan diario a partir del 1 de octubre. Las solicitudes de financiación para el Ministerio de Alimentación serán aceptadas hasta el 21 de octubre a medianoche, hora central, y son de 500 dólares. La financiación es para congregaciones ELCA con un ministerio de alimentación.  

Se puede disponer de una versión para Microsoft Word bajo solicitud, por favor envía un correo electrónico hunger@elca.org. De lo contrario, las solicitudes solo serán aceptadas a través de este formulario online a partir del 1 de octubre: Solicitud de Financiación para Alimentación del Ministerio – Rellenar el formulario 

Cronología de la solicitud:  

• Formulario de carta de consulta abierto: jueves 1 de octubre – miércoles 21 de octubre de 2026 

• Notificaciones de concesión compartidas con los solicitantes: noviembre de 2026 

• Banca y distribución de pagos: diciembre de 2026 

Quién puede solicitar: 

Congregaciones y Ministerios de la ELCA con un ministerio de alimentación ya existente que incluye: 

• Nuevos comienzos 

• Comunidades de Culto Autorizadas Sinodalmente (SAWCs) 

• Ministerios estratégicos 

• Congregaciones en desarrollo 

• Ministerios de Alcance Autorizados Sinodalmente (SAOMs) 

• Ministerios universitarios 

Gracias por todo lo que haces para trabajar de forma creativa y valiente hacia un mundo justo. Si tienes alguna pregunta sobre el proceso o sobre ELCA World Hunger, ponte en contacto con nuestro equipo en Hunger@elca.org o llámanos al 773-380-2616.  

SOLICITA LA SUBVENCIÓN DAILY BREAD 

Rom Chan Oun, (Note the ELCA sticker on the tuktuk)

Unlike many Cambodians who live near the border with Thailand, Rom Chan Oun decided not to migrate to Thailand to work. Instead, she joined the local Bour Samaki Meanchey Agricultural Cooperative.  The Bour AC, located in Battambang province in western Cambodia, is a initiative that supports farmers, creates employment opportunities, and improves access to essential goods and services within the community.  The cooperative is supported by Lutheran Hope Cambodia Organization, which in turn is supported by ELCA World Hunger.

Before joining the agricultural cooperative, “I was just a housewife and not many knew me,” says Chan Oun. “But now, I’m involved in market linkages and operate the coop tukuk.”

This has come through World Hunger’s particular support for Bour AC’s Women Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Agriculture Cooperative project. This project aims to increase income from selling pure drinking water – one of Bour AC’s enterprises – and provide for gathering, distributing and connecting to local markets. The tuktuk Chan Oun drives is part of all this.

Meanwhile, Chan Oun’s family income has improved, and she is now able to send her children to school. “I seek to work as a team, sharing responsibilities with all those in the cooperative. More than anything, people say to me: ‘oh, you are such a strong woman.’ I feel proud.”

It seemed fitting to meet Floricel on International Women’s Day. She is a mother, community organizer, and beloved community member. Floricel Liborio is an indigenous woman from Guerrero, Mexico. At the age of 18, she arrived in San Jose, California and has since built a family and life that includes compassionately supporting her community. Unfortunately, due to more ICE check ins resulting in disappearances of our immigrant community members and sometimes even citizens, Floricel has decided to prepare for the worst and vows to never go silently or alone.

Including Lutheran Pastor Nelson, who accompanied her to her most recent meeting that she had at the Ice Office with her lawyer, who feared the worst. However, Florical said that even some of the ICE agents were moved by her supporters and the LOVE that was experienced. That is the only thing that is stronger than the current fear being spread and multiplied, is to Love you neighbor, your friend, your community member and don’t let them be disappeared by ICE, don’t let them go hungry, through one another and Christ we may have life and have it abundantly.

At church on International Women’s Day, Floricel addressed the congregation, Iglesia Luterana Santa María Peregrina, letting us know how she was moved by the hungry families with children from her quadrillo who were asking for more bread but there was nothing left. So moved she called Pastor Nelson to see if there was anything they could do to help. Thanks to an ELCA World Hunger Grant to Santa Maria, Pr. Nelson was able to step up to distribute grocery store gift cards to households working directly in the fields, growing and harvesting. Thanks to his 8 year long relationship building trust with Floricel, she was able to coordinate along with the foreman of the quadrillo distribution of the grocery cards. The congregation she recounted this story to were mostly women, and in the reading that day highlighting an unnamed Samaritan woman, who Pastor Nelson shared a history lesson about.  Instead of solely viewing the unnamed woman as a result of the historic and even present patriarchy and the sexism that come with that, Pastor Nelson encouraged every woman to see themselves in this Samaritan woman who engaged directly with Jesus. This reclamation was powerful for the woman and girls of every age in attendance. This Women’s Month, we celebrate all the women from the Samaritan woman at the well with Jesus to Floricel ensuring her cuadrillo and others are fed, thank you for all that you do to ensure a just world for all!

Family, friends, clergy from many faiths all come with her to her check-ins and stand outside the Stockton Ice Office in support of Floricel.

By: Roselle Tenorio, Program Manager ELCA World Hunger – Domestic

Greetings Hunger Leaders,

Below you will find ELCA World Hunger resource suggestions for the 2026 season of ELCA Synod Assemblies and congregational engagement! Please feel free to order printed copies or create a QR code with these resources for download.  Please read to the end; there are many valuable resources here!

Lifelines

o   For the World Hunger annual report please see the 2025 Fall Lifelines issue, now available for download, as a PDF and interactive flipbook, and also available for order as a physical copy. 2026 Spring Lifelines should also be available by April.

Print/Digital Resources

Feeding Ministries Guide

o  If you are interested in starting a feeding ministry, this guide provides tips and strategies for planning, sourcing food, engaging volunteers, and much more. If you’re part of an existing feeding ministry, you’ll find ideas for growing, expanding or reimagining the work you’re already doing.

Backpack Buddies Guide

o  This helpful guide contains tips for starting a backpack hunger relief program in your community. It was developed in partnership with ELCA congregations already engaged in backpack buddy programs across the country. Approaching your local elementary schools is also an effective way to begin identifying specific needs in your community.

Know Your Neighborhood: Worksheet and Guide

o   This guide provides suggestions for finding data related to several areas that impact food security: housing, employment and food access. Data can help you and others know more about the challenges our neighbors face and the assets available in a community.

“At the Table” Vacation Bible

o  “At the Table” is ELCA World Hunger’s 2025 VBS curriculum, inviting your community to learn how storytelling can make a difference in your neighborhood and the world.

“En la Mesa”/”At the Table” Bilingual English/Spanish VBS

o   For the first time ever, ELCA World Hunger has a bilingual VBS. Designed to be either a traditional VBS or an intergenerational program, each day offers large- and small-group activities, crafts, games, snacks and more.

Act 2 Day 4 Tomorrow

o  This overnight program brings youth together to learn about the role they can play in eradicating hunger and poverty in the world.

Generation Zero-Hunger Interactive Journey Guide

o   With your youth group or congregation, experience the challenges faced by a family in Nepal as they seek a sustainable livelihood with this interactive roleplaying guide. The setup is based on how ELCA World Hunger designed the track for the 2024 ELCA Youth Gathering. For an intergenerational activity, consider asking a group of youth and young adults to run this experience for your community.

Many other resources can be downloaded here.

Videos

“Intersections: Justice Ministries with ELCA Partners” — an ELCA World Hunger Documentary

o   “Intersections” was created to introduce the ELCA and its communities to the overlapping causes of hunger. Using the M.E.R.G.E. (Migrant, Economic, Racial, Gender, and Environmental) justice acronym as an illustration, the film follows the stories of three ELCA companion ministries and explores how the church is working at poverty’s tangled roots.

o   Consider playing this video at your table or running a discussion session at your synod assembly based off the documentary. If you are interested in putting on running a discussion around the film, and have any questions, please contact Peter McLellan at peter.mclellan@elca.org.

• “We live in a hungry world” w/ Bishop Michael Rinehart
• “ELCA World Hunger in Puerto Rico” w/ Everidys Concepción

Online Course: “What is a Hunger Leader?”

• https://bit.ly/hungerleader— This 20-25-minute online learning resource introduces prospective, new, and longtime advocates to ELCA World Hunger’s ministries and invites them to join us. Through brief reflections and videos, this tool helps people in your network see themselves in the work of ending poverty. Share “What Is a Hunger Leader?” with your neighbors of any level of familiarity with anti-hunger ministry!
• Print the attached flyer to display at your synod assembly tables.

How to Order Printed Resources

• See attached flyer for how to order!

How to Create a QR Code

• Click here for a YouTube tutorial on how to create a QR code using Google Chrome web browser or Canva.

Please send us photos of your synod assembly table displays!

Thank you, and have a wonderful time at your assembly and engaging your congregations!

From now until the final whistle, Team Northwest Washington and Team New England will seek to outdo one another for the sake of the gospel. The fans that donate the most through their team page to ELCA World Hunger by midnight Central time on Feb. 8 will help their synod take home the title of ELCA World Hunger Champion — regardless of the outcome on the field. Whether your favorite formation is 3-4, 4-3, or 3:16, you can send your nickels and dimes to support your team!

Click here to support Team Northwest Washington!

Click here to support Team New England!

Pak Esli lives in a small hamlet called Sua, located in Saibi Samukop Village, Mentawai Islands, off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. On a daily basis, he works as a fisherman as well as a log collector used for making rattan. He lives with his wife and two sons, the second of which is currently in his first year of high school.

As the head of the family, Pak Esli is responsible and always tries hard to fulfill his family’s needs. The big change in his life began when he participated in a forest bee farming program sponsored by the Indonesian National Committee of the Lutheran World Federation (KN-LWF).

Initially, he had absolutely no knowledge about how to raise bees, let alone about the process of how honey can be produced. The world of beekeeping was completely new to him. However, through the training and mentoring provided in this program, he began to understand the whole process-from getting to know the bee colony, taking care of the hives, to harvesting honey sustainably.

Pak Esli says that this program has brought a very positive impact, not only for him personally, but also for the Sua Hamlet community as a whole. “Forest bee farming has opened up new avenues in improving our economy,” he said. “The harvested honey can now be sold to various places, thus becoming a very meaningful source of additional income for families in the village.”

He adds that all this has opened up new opportunities for bee colony development. As the number of colonies increases, more hives can be harvested, and this means more activities for the community, both to fulfill their daily needs and to supplement their income.

“I am fortunate to take part in this program,” said Pak Esli. “I hope that this activity can continue to grow and reach more residents in other areas.” For Mr. Esli, forest bee farming is not just an economic activity, but also a tangible manifestation of changes in people’s way of life that are more independent, productive, and care for the surrounding nature.

Agusiang Zebua is a newly ordained pastor in the Protestant Christian Church (BNKP) on the island of Nias in far western Indonesia. As a new leader, she took part in the Women’s Empowerment course “Exploring Potential through Theological Education, Leadership, Clinical Pastoral Support, and Reconciliation,” put on by the Indonesian National Committee of the Lutheran World Federation.

“This was a valuable experience for me,” she said, especially as I think of how I will be placed as a female leader in a congregation.” This included aspects of the importance of the role of women, starting with the family, church, and society. “Even though women are often considered weak and ignored, it turns out that women have great potential to lead and have a positive impact on the environment in which they live,” she said. “With a strong commitment, a desire to always learn, and a willingness to develop one’s skills, I don’t think it is impossible for women to be empowered and accepted in the church and society.”

Much of the learning during the course happened by listening to female speakers and interacting with other participants. “This gave me an overview of the current state of the church and society, the challenges experienced by women, and how to deal with them,” said Zebua. “This has become a provision, encouragement, and challenge for me in the future to become a pastor in a congregation.” At the same time, through various activities, young women were given space to learn and were encouraged to become the next generation of female leaders.

Reflecting on what she experienced and learned as a woman leader, Zebua noted how the workshop itself was a good example of activities that could be carried out in the congregation itself. “Even the smallest things, such as setting and arrangement of space provides for a comfortable atmosphere and I feel I can take this back to my own place.”

“God bless us; Ya’ahowu [the Nias language greeting],” she said.

On September 22nd, 2025, ELCA World Hunger will officially release our short educational documentary, “Intersections: Justice Ministry with ELCA Partners,” for free on YouTube and Vimeo. You can watch a trailer for the film at the link here. “Intersections” explores stories from three ELCA companion ministries, responding to the overlapping root causes of hunger in the United States and around the world.

This an interview with Mikayla Irle, who was the editing producer of “Intersections,” is an experienced documentary filmmaker. She was the primary creative professional supporting the development of this project.

Thank you for taking time to share more about your work, expertise, and professional story. I’m looking forward to this conversation.

First, tell us a little bit about yourself and your work. How do you understand your work as a documentary producer?

Mikayla Irle (pictured here) is a documentary filmmaker and the producing editor of “Intersections.”

“Producing” can mean a lot of things on a documentary, from managing the shoot to providing funding, but my role was focused on “writing” the story based on the footage we had and putting in the legwork to creatively fill any gaps. So, I watched all the interviews, put them in order to convey the information clearly, and gave it a beginning, middle and end. I also searched online for music and archival footage to help the stories come alive and wrote any text that appears onscreen. Of course, the team at ELCA World Hunger helped me along the way!

I am a freelance editor, who is, weirdly and happily, living on a Christmas tree farm in Washington State. For about a decade, I worked in New York on bigger-budget films, but I have happily transitioned to working more deliberately on documentary stories that excite me. Anyone who’s got a story to tell about how they’re finding solutions to big struggles in our world…that’s what I love to work on!

What is one of the most lasting lessons you learned–either about yourself or the work of the ELCA and its partners–while producing and editing Intersections that you did not know before?

I’m most proud of the scope of this short film! We covered stories from a rural farming community in Cambodia, an urban US city, and several countries in Central America. We touched on the themes of climate change, political and economic history, racial and gender disparity. While each story could have been a documentary unto itself, I think we managed to tell a short version of each and still connect them to the big theme of hunger.

What are some of the challenges you had to overcome while working on Intersections?

What made me most proud of this documentary is also what made it most challenging: the scope of world hunger is huge! The causes of and solutions to hunger in each story were so different, it was challenging to focus each story so it still connected clearly to the mission of ELCA World Hunger’s work. It wasn’t clear when we began how we would actually connect the stories, but we wanted the audience to learn about each place as a unique example and still get educated on the ELCA philosophical framework. Ultimately, our solution was to have Angela [Galbraith], an advocate, explain the framework between stories and use a graphic of the Earth rotating from location to location to transition us between stories.

If folks are looking for a documentary producer or editor, how can they get ahold of you?

The easiest way to contact me is directly through email! You’re also welcome to check out my work at my website.

mikayla.irle@gmail.com
https://mikaylairle.wixsite.com/editingresume

About the Author

Mikayla Irle is a documentary editor and producer working in the Seattle area. She loves working on big stories about people doing their piece to make the world a better place. Her background is in feature and episodic documentaries that have appeared on HBO, AppleTV, independent cinema screens and more.