Episcopal Press and News
Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief Awards Grants; Donations Reported Down
Episcopal News Service. June 21, 1995 [95-1155]
(ENS) Despite low resources, the board of directors of the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief awarded $544,262 in grants when it met in New York, June 5-8.
Most grants were kept in the $2,000-$4,000 range to make the most of the funds available, said Nancy Marvel, the fund's director, adding that even those small grants will be critical to support existing projects and leverage additional money.
Board members were disappointed to learn that income to the fund was down, Marvel said. The economic slump in some parts of the country may have contributed to the decline in giving, she said. The high number of natural and human-caused disasters in recent years also has focused most giving on designated needs, leaving few undesignated funds available to support general projects, she noted.
"It is also impossible to know to what extent the embezzlement by Ellen Cooke has affected people's willingness to give," she said. "The board and I certainly hope that members of the church have not lost their faith in and commitment to a cause as much needed as the Presiding Bishop's Fund."
In February, former treasurer Ellen Cooke was found to have stolen $2.2 million in national church funds. Marvel stressed that the firm Coopers and Lybrand, called in to audit the church's finances after the discovery of the embezzlement, found no sign that any money earmarked for the Presiding Bishop's Fund had been misappropriated in that embezzlement.
People must know that the money they send to the Presiding Bishop's Fund really will be used to support ministry to the most needy," she said."
To help restore the fund's resources, Ann Vest, chair of the board, has issued the call for all Episcopalians to become partners of the fund by contributing $20 per year in undesignated gifts through the fund's annual appeal. While the board recommends that local congregations include the appeal in their services on the last Sunday in January, it can be held at any time, she noted.
"If the fund receives this partnership commitment from all Episcopalians each year, the board of directors would have over $20 million in undesignated funds" that could be used to respond to relief, rehabilitation and development needs around the world, Vest said.
Last year, the board received over $30 million in requests but had only $4.5 million to grant, she said.
At its June meeting, the board awarded grants to projects in 36 dioceses that give aid to victims of violence and support for suicide prevention, substance abuse treatment, refugee and migrant ministry, ministry to women and children, aid to the homeless and hungry, and ministry to persons with AIDS. Designated funds were used in recent months for rehabilitation work following the floods in Georgia and the Midwest, Hurricane Andrew, the Oklahoma City bombing and the California earthquake.
Overseas grants were awarded to partner church projects in Africa, the Solomon Islands, Pakistan, India, Central America, Europe, the Middle East and South America. Among these grants were contributions to the Japan earthquake rehabilitation efforts and to assist the people of Bosnia, Croatia and Russia.
In addition there is $85,568 available to continue assisting the people of Rwanda both in Rwanda itself and in the neighboring countries where many refugees have fled, Marvel said. This brings the total received to assist that troubled region to $958,686.
For additional information or a complete list of grants awarded, call or write: The Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief, 815 Second Avenue, New York, New York 10017, 1-800-334-7626, Ext. 5129, or 212-922-5129.
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