To the editor:
This month, we have an opportunity to contribute to some very worthwhile causes through the National Combined Collection, which you have heard about in recent weeks.
One of the groups assisted through this collection is the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), which has a diocesan board that is effectively helping people in the Madison Diocese.
The CCHD helps to fight poverty by funding community groups who create solutions to poverty in their geographic areas. As a recipient of two grants from our Diocesan CCHD, our four-parish Justice & Peace Commission has been able to begin to help local farmers find new ways to increase their income and ease some of their economic plight.
With the money granted to us, we have begun to educate area citizens about the value of eating locally and sustainably grown foods. We have created a list of local producers who can be contacted for direct purchasing of their products.
We have established a coalition of growers who are finding new ways to market their goods (internet, institutional connections, conference networking).
We have brought speakers into our community to teach people how to grow their own foods in deep mulch gardens. We have helped school students to create a school garden. And we are working at creating community gardens and supplying seeds to food pantry clients, so that they can take charge of some of their own food production.
Thank you, Madison Diocesan CCHD, for help is this project.
Mary Williams, Reedsburg, Cluster 350, Justice & Peace Commission