'Breakfast
Club' spreads ECLOF word
ECLOF USA news
By
Mitch Felchle
If
it’s early Thursday morning the Minnesota ECLOF Resource
Group must be in session!
At
7 a.m. each Thursday members of the group gather in the
cafeteria of Thrivent Financial, where some of the volunteers
work during the day.
Our
task each week is to address the twin reasons for the group's
existence, viz. i) to tell the ECLOF story in the Twin Cities
of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and elsewhere, and (ii) to
find financial and other resources to support the ECLOF
revolving credit loan funds within those nations where National
ECLOF Committees (NECs) are operational.
Much
has been accomplished since the ECLOF International Board
meeting in November 2002 in Switzerland:
-
ECLOF
USA is now a non-profit incorporated organization in Minnesota,
has a tax identification number, has filed for U.S. tax
exempt status and met various other legal requirements.
-
Several versions of the ECLOF story have been developed
for U.S. audiences.
-
A presentation for small group audiences has been developed
and tested at Nobel Peace Prize Forum meetings connected
with Lutheran colleges in the region.
-
Presentations are in hand for a Scandinavian women’s
group (with plans to address other women’s groups),
St. Paul and Minneapolis Rotary meetings and adult forum
gatherings at area churches.
-
Grant requests to the limited number of private foundations
that support international causes have been prepared and
submitted.
-
Some corporate arrangements are becoming operational,
and others are in the early stages of development.
-
An overall outline for a resource development (including
fundraising) campaign has been prepared, and a presentation
piece designed specifically for potential major donors
is underway.
-
Eligibility for U.S. government funding programs is being
explored.
Unfortunately,
all this activity is taking place in a U.S. economy that
is the gloomiest in many years, and a stock market that
may be as depressed as it has been since the 1930s (the
last time there were three straight down years in the market).
The consequences from this, which make new fundraising especially
difficult, include big decreases in foundation grants, reductions
in corporate giving, marked decline in individual giving
and severe cutbacks in Federal and state funding of non-profits.
So,
the Minnesota ECLOF Resource Group, has serious challenges
ahead as it tries to increase funding for ECLOF in the U.S.
But that doesn’t mean the group has given up! To the
contrary, the dedicated group that meets bright and early
Thursday mornings is even more committed to making their
efforts work. Attendance is consistent, enthusiasm runs
high and all involved are committed to the cause, even if
it means a little less sleep once a week!
Mitch
Felchle is a consultant with the Growth Design Corporation
(GDC) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. GDC is handling ECLOF
fundraising in the USA. Mitch is also a volunteer worker
for ECLOF USA along with a handful of other committed pioneer
volunteers.
The Minnesota ECLOF Resource Group Breakfast Club at work!
(l to rt) Mitch Felchle, Kay Dixon, Dayton Soby, Kevin Olsen
House
of Hope
An
U.S. church has donated US$10,000 to ECLOF International
to be used for lending this year.
News
of the gift came to ECLOF from Tom Forster-Smith, Associate
Pastor in charge of Global Ministry at the House of Hope
Presbyterian Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.
House
of Hope is well known throughout the United States, in both
the Presbyterian Church and the ecumenical movement, for
its longstanding religious, intellectual and humanitarian
traditions.
Muhungi
Kanyoro, Director of ECLOF International, said that he was
particularly pleased with the donation: "It not only
represents financial support to enable ECLOF help more marginalized
people find justice and dignity through their labour, but
is also an expression of the church’s identification
with ECLOF’s mission. It signifies the first fruits
of ECLOF USA"
New
Horizons