The Presbytery of Florida’s 2-Cents-a-Meal Hunger Action Initiative

 The Presbytery of Florida encourages the participation of its churches in the 2 cents-a-meal initiative.  Begun by a member of Central Florida Presbytery, the 2-cents-a-meal initiative encourages church members to give two cents a meal at home and at church meals and coffee hours as a daily, every-time-we-eat reminder that, while we are blessed with food, others go hungry.  The money collected is dedicated in the local church worship and then distributed to any local hunger initiative the church supports, and a portion is sent to the presbytery to be used for hunger initiatives by the presbytery.

The Presbytery of Florida adopted this initiative soon after it was introduced.  While other presbyteries have changed their campaign to “nickel a meal” or some other larger sum, the presbytery’s Compassion & Social Justice Committee has decided to stick with the 2-Cents-a-Meal campaign until we give literally two cents per meal per member of presbytery!  In the past decade, we have averaged about $15,000-$20,000 per year for the presbytery’s portion.  If every member of presbytery gave 2 cents a meal, the total for the year would be over $160,000.  As you can see, we have room for improvement!

Because each presbytery has its own hunger initiative, the PC(USA)’s hunger program (PHP) has developed “Cents-ability” resources.  There is no mandate of how much to give, neither in amount per meal nor percentage to the church, presbytery or PCUSA – just encouragement to give to fight hunger using the PHP guidelines that fall under five categories:  direct food relief, education & interpretation, public policy advocacy, development assistance and lifestyle integrity.

Our churches give anywhere from 0%-100% of their 2-Cents-a-Meal collection to not only the 2-Cents-a-Meal fund at the presbytery level, but also to sponsor potential grant recipients that meet one or more of the PHP program areas.  Sponsorship of 2-Cents-a-Meal grant applicants requires a church’s Session approval.

2-Cents-a-Meal grant application form 

Download a 2-Cents-a-Meal collection jar template for your church or household.

2-Cents-a-Meal grant awards the Presbytery of Florida has given

To learn more about the Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP), go to www.pcusa.org/hunger.