CWS Ecumenical Advocacy Days 2008 scholarship recipients
February 26, 2008
Below are profiles of the recipients of ten CWS scholarships for community activists from around the nation to attend Ecumenical Advocacy Days, the nation's largest annual gathering of Christian peace and justice activists.
Granted by the agency's Education and Advocacy Program, the scholarships make it possible for this group of outstanding leaders of Church World Service CROP Hunger Walks in cities throughout the nation to attend the March 7-10 conference in Washington, D.C.
Victor Atiemo-Obeng Photo: Glenn Photography |
Victor Atiemo-Obeng
Midland, Michigan
Victor Atiemo-Obeng is chairman of the Church World Service Michigan Region Advisory Board, where he helps the staff develop strategy and execute programs to raise awareness about the needs of the poor and hungry and to raise money through CROP Hunger Walks.
Each year, some 2,000 communities across the U.S. join in CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) Hunger Walks to raise awareness and funds for local hunger fighting efforts and to support the overall work of Church World Service, especially its grassroots, poverty-fighting development programs with partners in some 80 countries.
A native of Ghana, he says his first real exposure to hunger and poverty was as a newly-arrived college student. “I couldn’t believe what I saw in this land of riches. I find it incredible that there are people living in the United States who feed themselves by rummaging through garbage, even today.”
Atiemo-Obeng attends First Baptist Church in Midland.
Regional Director:
David C. Bower
517-484-7144 (Toll-free within the region: 888-CWS-CROP)
809 Center Street - Suite 7A, Lansing, MI 48906
Mark Coats Photo: Don Mason |
Mark Coats
Austin, Texas
Mark Coats serves as global team leader for Austin RESULTS, a grassroots hunger and poverty fighting organization.
He is a member of the dual-denominational Church of the Savior in Cedar Park,which relates to American Baptist Churches U.S.A. and theUnited Church of Christ. He also serves as the Baptist recruiter for the March 1 and 2, 2008, Austin CROP Hunger Walk.
Each year, some 2,000 communities across the U.S. join in CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) Hunger Walks to raise awareness and funds for local hunger fighting efforts and to support the overall work of Church World Service, especially its grassroots, poverty-fighting development programs with partners in some 80 countries.
Church World Service Texas Regional Director Howard Hartman, who nominated Coats, says, “Last year, under Mark's leadership, more than 200 walkers sat down at the completion of their CROP Hunger Walk to let lawmakers know of their concern for hungry people around the world.”
The child of American Baptist missionaries to Thailand, Coats spent a total of ten years there between the agesof 4 and17. "My childhood in Thailand gave me a deep appreciation of the impact of poverty and diseases of the poor and motivates me to make the world a better place, a world free of hunger," he says.
Regional Director:
Howard Hartman
512-451-2062 (Toll-free within the region: 888-CWS-CROP)
6633 Highway 290 E, Suite 200, Austin, TX 78723
John Gaus Photo: Judy Dunson/CWS |
John Gaus
Bloomington, Indiana
John Gaus, a member of St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Bloomington, is well known inside and outside of the church for his advocacy efforts on behalf of the poor and hungry. He is a retired United Methodist clergyman who led local congregations throughout Indiana for more than 35 years.
Church World Service Indiana and Kentucky regional Director Judy Dunson, who nominated Gaus, says “Twice during recent years, he has revived declining events, helping to assure new leadership and lasting organizational procedures.”
In 2004, his CROP Hunger Walk leadership was acknowledged with his election to the Indiana-Kentucky CROP Honor Roll.
Each year, some 2,000 communities across the U.S. join in CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) Hunger Walks to raise awareness and funds for local hunger fighting efforts and to support the overall work of Church World Service, especially its grassroots, poverty-fighting development programs with partners in some 80 countries.
Gaus, now serving his second three-year term on the Indiana-Kentucky Regional Advisory Board for CWS, has attended several Ecumenical Advocacy Day programs.
Regional Director:
Judy Dunson
317-923-2938 (Toll-free within the region: 888-CWS-CROP)
1100 W 42nd Street, Indianapolis, IN 46208
Rev. Phil Grigsby Photo: SICM |
Rev. Phil Grigsby
Schenectady, New York
Rev. Phil Grigsby, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, has served since 1986 as executive director/urban agent of the Schenectady Inner City Ministry (SICM), an ecumenical partnership of 58 congregations with joint ministries of social service, education, social witness, and social action. A graduate of Yale Divinity school, he has been a faculty member there and also has served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone, West Africa.
Before coming to Schenectady, Grigsby served as associate regional director
for Church World Service/CROP in the Carolinas, where he and colleagues
developed the Charlotte, NC, event into the nation’s largest CROP Walk.
Each year, some 2,000 communities across the U.S. join in CROP (Communities
Responding to Overcome Poverty) Hunger Walks to raise awareness and
funds for local hunger fighting efforts and to support the overall
work of Church World Service, especially its grassroots, poverty-fighting
development programs with partners in some 80 countries.
Regional Director:
Douglas Anderson
315-458-8535 (Toll-free within the region: 888-CWS-CROP)
200 C Gateway Park Drive, North Syracuse, NY 13212-3751
Rev. Dan Hamlin Photo: Linda Edwards |
Rev. Dan Hamlin
Greenbelt, Maryland
Rev. Dan Hamlin is pastor of Greenbelt Community Church, United Church of Christ in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he has served for 23 years.
An avid supporter of Church World Service CROP Hunger Walks, Pastor Hamlin has promoted and participated in every CROP Walk since he arrived in Greenbelt in 1984.
Each year, some 2,000 communities across the U.S. join in CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) Hunger Walks to raise awareness and funds for local hunger fighting efforts and to support the overall work of Church World Service, especially its grassroots, poverty-fighting development programs with partners in some 80 countries.
On the "Kick Off Sunday" for the Greenbelt Walk, Hamlin leads the service wearing white sneakers. Paper "feet" with the names of people who sign up adorn the back wall of the sanctuary. During his first year in Greenbelt the church turned out 12 walkers. Last year 88 walkers represented the 250-member church and raised $12,912, helping to make the Greenbelt Walk one of the top 50 CROP Hunger Walks in the U.S. Several years ago the church added the "Souperbowl of Caring" special offering on Superbowl Sunday to benefit Church World Service.
Church World Service Greater Mid-Atlantic Regional Director Rev. Dr. Ted Farrar says of Hamlin: “I am awed these days by people like Rev. Hamlin, who ‘go the distance’ in their chosen vocations. They are not sound-bite types of folks. They keep showing up year after year, whether anyone notices or not; whether anyone awards them or recognizes them for what they do. They don't seem to be externally driven. Their call is deep, and true, and their passion somehow has a transcendent dimension to it--it draws attention, not to them but to the cause or mission they espouse.”
Regional Director:
Ted Farrar
301-441-1676 (Toll-free within the region: 888-CWS-CROP)
4920 Niagara Rd., Suite 406, College Park, MD 20740
Henry Jones Photo: Suzanne Dysard |
Henry Jones
Fullerton, California
Henry Jones, a member of First United Methodist Church of Fullerton, which has a 26-year history of CROP Walking, has supported the Fullerton CROP Hunger Walk with both his time and resources for the past two decades.
Church World Service California/Southwest Regional Director Julie Brumana, who nominated Jones for the award, says, “He really is an ambassador of hope for us. He has great enthusiasm and an amazing gift for interesting people in the Walk and mobilizing them. He has been a major asset for us as we try to get more and more people to join our campaign against hunger and poverty in our communities and around the world.”
Each year, some 2,000 communities across the U.S. join in CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) Hunger Walks to raise awareness and funds for local hunger fighting efforts and to support the overall work of Church World Service, especially its grassroots, poverty-fighting development programs with partners in some 80 countries.
Jones says a 2006 visit to Kenya with Church World Service reinforced for him how important the local CROP work is to people living in poverty.
“I always felt good about walking with my wife, Vi, and other team members from Fullerton First United Methodist Church in the Fullerton Area CROP Hunger Walk with our CROP shirts printed with ‘We Walk Because They Walk.’ In Kenya, I found out firsthand what this slogan really means. In the Narok District we visited a drought stricken Maasai community where women and girls once walked miles to get water. Today, they benefit from a Church World Service funded water project.”
Regional Director:
Julie Brumana
626-296-3195
2235 N. Lake Ave Suite 112, Altadena, CA 91001
Allison Lanza Photo: Janet Lanza |
Alison Lanza
Nashville, Tennessee
For the last two years Alison Lanza has worked on the planning committee for the Nashville CROP Hunger Walk.
Each year, some 2,000 communities across the U.S. join in CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) Hunger Walks to raise awareness and funds for local hunger fighting efforts and to support the overall work of Church World Service, especially its grassroots, poverty-fighting development programs with partners in some 80 countries.
Church World Service Mid-South Regional Director Kevin McCoy calls Lanza “one of those exceptional people whose energy and commitment to service is infectious. Her work has helped CWS develop new relationships with Vanderbilt Divinity School and the music industry in Nashville.”
Lanza, now in her third year of the Masters of Divinity program at Vanderbilt, expects to be ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). A native of Fort Worth, TX , she now is a member of Vine Street Christian Church in Nashville, where she works with the youth program.
Regional Director:
Kevin McCoy
615-783-0716 (Toll-free within the region: 888-CWS-CROP)
c/o Vine Street Christian Church
4101 Harding Road - P.O. Box 92076, Nashville, TN 37205
Brian Miller Photo: Miller Family |
Brian Miller
Mount Vernon, Ohio
Brian Miller, a member of the First Congregational
United Church of Christ, is very involved in the church’s social
justice ministries and has been an active member of the Mount Vernon
CROP Hunger Walk committee since 1988.
Each year, some 2,000 communities across the U.S. join in CROP (Communities
Responding to Overcome Poverty) Hunger Walks to raise awareness and
funds for local hunger fighting efforts and to support the overall
work of Church World Service, especially its grassroots, poverty-fighting
development programs with partners in some 80 countries.
Church World Service Ohio Regional Director Matthew Stevens, who nominated
Miller for the award, says, “Brian has always been interested in cultures
outside of the United States. As an undergraduate student, he studied
Russia and international relations and spent several summers studying
abroad. For the past ten years, his interests have specifically been
on Third World development.
“As a reporter for the Granville Sentinel, he has won many awards, including the prestigious ‘Ohio Public Images: Award of Excellence in Print Journalism’ in 2004 for his story ‘Inclusion Policy Opens Doors for Special Needs Students.’ As a journalist, he advocates for a wide variety of domestic and international policy issues that will help to bring about a more just and peaceful world. The Ohio Region of Church World Service is proud to have Brian Miller as a partner for justice.”
Regional Director:
Matthew Stevens
614-481-4416 (Toll-free within the region: 888-CWS-CROP)
1335 Dublin, Suite 218A, Columbus, OH 43215
Kathi Moton Photo provided |
Kathi Moton
Aurora, Colorado
Kathi Moton, who is active at Burns United Methodist Church in Aurora, has been coordinator of the Aurora CROP Hunger Walk for the past six years. In that role she successfully brings together walkers, sponsors, and community leaders to raise funds to fight hunger at home and abroad.
Each year, some 2,000 communities across the U.S. join in CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) Hunger Walks to raise awareness and funds for local hunger fighting efforts and to support the overall work of Church World Service, especially its grassroots, poverty-fighting development programs with partners in some 80 countries.
Church World Service Rocky Mountain Regional Director Art Ziemann, who nominated Moton, calls her “one of the most passionate people I know--always standing up for those who need a little help from their friends--but also one of the most humble people you will ever meet, rarely talking about herself or her needs.”
Regional Director:
Art Ziemann
303-455-5765 (Toll-free within the region: 888-CWS-CROP)
4130 Tejon Street - Suite B, Denver, CO 80211
Josef Walker Photo: Susan Walker |
Josef Walker
Kansas City, Missouri
Josef Walker, who has been a lay pastoral minister in the Catholic tradition for more than 20 years, is an active participant in Kansas City’s “Heart of America” CROP Hunger Walk.
Each year, some 2,000 communities across the U.S. join in CROP (Communities
Responding to Overcome Poverty) Hunger Walks to raise awareness and funds
for local hunger fighting efforts and to support the overall work of
Church World Service, especially its grassroots, poverty-fighting development
programs with partners in some 80 countries.
Joyce Holley, Church World Service Assistant Regional Director in Kansas
City cites Walker’s “strong commitment to social justice and interfaith
work” with congregations and communities as a reason for nominating
him for the Church World Service award.
In addition to his support for the CROP Hunger Walk, Walker also speaks on religious and ethnic diversity and social justice at conferences, colleges and workshops and he has served as a representative to national and regional ecumenical and interfaith dialogues. Walker also facilitates ecumenical and interfaith discussions on global and community issues in greater Kansas City.
Assistant Regional Director:
Joyce Holley
816-531-4540 (Toll-free within the region: 888-CWS-CROP)
4601 Main Street
Kansas City, MO 64112