Fifth And Sixth Graders Take A Stand Against Poverty

To the Editor:

On October 18, at the start of Trinity Episcopal Church’s 4:30 pm service, Trinity’s fifth and sixth grade church school class will join with family members, classmates, and neighbors from the Newtown community to Stand Up and Take Action against poverty. This event will be one of thousands held all over the world during the weekend of October 16–18 as part of an international movement focused on eradicating poverty in our world. The focus of the fifth and sixth graders’ event will be to help educate members of the Newtown community about the devastating effects of poverty, take a pledge to make a difference, and collect cans of food to donate to the FAITH Food Pantry in Sandy Hook to help fight poverty in their community.

When asked why their church school class is hosting this event, fifth grader Peyton Cutolo responded: “Have you ever stopped to think about how many people are living in poverty? Well, you should because there are 37 million people just in the United States of America suffering from poverty and are on the edge of dying. Do you want to help? Well you can!”

Sunday’s event has been inspired by the group Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now (http://standagainstpoverty.org), which for the past few years has equipped people around the world to rally against poverty. Citizens across the world are demanding that world leaders keep the promises they made in 2000 to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). MDGs are a set of eight benchmarks to eliminate extreme poverty, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat major diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, and develop a global partnership by the year 2015. In 2006, 23 million people participated in events coordinated by Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now, followed by 47 million in 2007. Then in 2008, over 116 million participated in Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now events — nearly two percent of the people on earth — breaking the Guinness World Record for the largest mobilization of human beings in recorded history. With the support of groups like Trinity’s fifth and sixth graders, Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now has set its goal this year to break the record for the number of people participating for the fourth year in a row.

The fifth and sixth graders of Trinity’s Church School class would like to invite everyone who is interested in taking a stand against poverty to join them for this event. Trinity Episcopal Church is located on 36 Main Street. At the beginning of the service at 4:30 pm, all participants will together take a pledge to stand up and take action against poverty, and the number of participants will be forwarded to Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now to be counted among the millions of people who gather around the world this weekend to fight poverty.

Mary Chamiec-Case

21 Turkey Roost Road, Sandy Hook                         October 12, 2009