Churches encouraged to respond to ‘Mother's Day Call to Action.’

The Association of Brethren Caregivers (ABC) is encouraging Church of the Brethren congregations and members to support a "Mother’s Day Call to Action" of the Children’s Defense Fund by contacting their congressional representatives the week of May 6-12 and asking them to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

In 1997, Congress created SCHIP to provide insurance for children whose parents work but cannot afford health insurance of their own. SCHIP comes before Congress again this year to be reauthorized to continue. The Children’s Defense Fund is initiating this call to action to encourage elected officials to provide comprehensive health and mental health coverage to every child in America.

"Children are dying in America because they lack health coverage and adequate access to doctors and dentists," states a bulletin insert from the Children’s Defense Fund. The insert includes the stories of three children who died in 2007 due to lack of adequate health care. The bulletin also notes that of the 9 million children without health insurance, 90 percent are living in working households, and the majority are in two-parent families. (Download the bulletin insert from the ABC website at www.brethren.org/abc/advocacy/kids%20family.html.)

In April, both ABC and the Church of the Brethren General Board signed up to support the All Healthy Children Act with the Children’s Defense Fund.

"Many families in the US today are struggling to provide their children with adequate health care," said Kim Ebersole, director of Family and Older Adult Ministry for ABC. "This Mother’s Day, when we traditionally honor our mothers, we have the opportunity to ‘do for the least of these’ (Matthew 25:40). Let us put our faith into action by contacting our senators and representatives and urging them to reauthorize SCHIP. The gift of healthy children, and healthy families, would be a present mothers (and fathers) would cherish."

Contact senators and representative by calling 888-226-0627, visiting www.childrensdefense.org/MothersDayCall, or e-mailing www.childrensdefense.org/MothersDayEmail. The Children’s Defense Fund 39-page "Toolkit for Faith Communities" is downloadable from www.childrensdefense.org/site/PageServer?pagename=healthy_child_takeaction#toolkit. Additional resources are at ABC’s website under its advocacy materials for "Cover the Uninsured."

Source: 5/09/2007 Newsline