June 21, 2003

Dear Plenty Friends,

Over its nearly 30-year history Plenty has worked in 15 countries on 4 continents, which means we have gotten to know many hundreds of families and thousands of people. I can see now that when we started Plenty we were, in effect, making a pact with all the people we would ever work with that we would share their sorrow and pain, just as we all make that pact with our own families and communities. We share life’s greatest burdens so that none of us is crushed by the sometimes-unbearable weight.

No sorrow is greater than that of a mother or father who has lost a child. Every year millions of children around the world die unnecessarily due to shortages of water or food or an abundance of violence. Imagine the sorrow and pain of millions of families. We, all of us, whether or not we personally know them, share their grief because, as fellow humans, it is our grief.

Sharing the world’s grief would be impossible if we were not sustained by our love for each other and by our pact to not only share the sorrow, but to do everything we can to ease that burden, to feed those children and give their mothers and fathers clean running water. Doing that creates hope and makes us feel useful, which dispels sorrow and heals pain and brings miracles to life.

At its best, this is what Plenty is about, and all of you, as members of the Plenty community, share in the burdens and the miracles. The members of this diverse Plenty community span the political spectrum and range in age from ten to one hundred. You are veterans, hippies, money managers, schoolteachers, psychologists, lawyers, bankers, medical professionals, journalists, diplomats, students, builders, Native American Tribal leaders, filmmakers, family foundations, environmentalists, prisoners and the homeless. You are visionaries and very practical idealists with big hearts. Every time we hear from you we’re inspired and Plenty is empowered to reach out a little farther.

Often you dazzle us with your imagination and commitment:

Adam Roberts attended the World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa in 2002 where he became overwhelmed by stories of global poverty. He came up with an idea: THE TEN DOLLAR CLUB. What he is doing is enlisting colleagues, friends and family to pledge $10 each month, and every month they select a worthy project to send the money to. Recently the TEN DOLLAR CLUB sent a generous donation to Plenty for the Toledo School Gardens and Lunch Program in Belize.

Chris Gruener is a Family Therapist and Sunday school teacher in Massachusetts. A few years ago he organized his Sunday school class to launch a recycling drive. The kids collect bottles and cans and donate the money they get for them to Plenty. Every year Chris runs in the Boston Marathon and enlists pledges per mile from friends and associates so his marathon raises money for Plenty. Chris is also a supporter of "Bikes Not Bombs," and we’re collaborating to ship a container of bikes and parts to Belize.

Some of you are on fixed incomes. You send notes with your donations saying, "I wish it could be more." Believe me, we only wish we could thank you more.

We want to take a moment to salute the new President of Brazil who put up a dandy proposal to the "G-8" leaders meeting in France in early June. The G-8 are the richest countries, but the "G" is supposed to just stand for "Group" not "Greedy." Brazil is not a member, but Luiz Lulu da Silva has proposed a tax on international arms sales to be applied to ending hunger and the "structural causes of hunger" around the world. None of the G-8 governments have formally responded to Mr. da Silva’s groundbreaking proposal, but Plenty has awarded him our coveted Sensible Politician of the Month Prize!

Sincerely,

Peter Schweitzer
Executive Director