Texas Tidbits

Hunger luncheon set for Amarillo. The second annual hunger luncheon, scheduled in conjunction with the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting, will be at 11 a.m. on Oct. 25 in Heritage Room A4 of the Amarillo Civic Center. Mike Garman, pastor of Eastridge Baptist Church in Amarillo, will speak about the Eastridge Refugee Ministry. Field personnel from North Africa also will make a presentation about hunger ministries in their area funded by the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger. Tickets for the lunch meeting are $12, available at the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission booth or the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship booth in the BGCT exhibit hall. To make reservations, call (214) 828-5192 or e-mail alicia.enriquez@texasbaptists.org. The Texas Baptist CLC, CBF, Amarillo Baptist Association and Wayland Baptist University are event sponsors.

CBF plans regional assemblies. Texas Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has scheduled six regional assemblies over the next seven months. Each assembly—which begins at 1 p.m. and ends at 4 p.m.—will include a plenary session focused on ways to engage the millennial generation in church life, breakout sessions about opportunities for missional engagement and workshops about developing multicultural and multi-ethnic churches. Regional assemblies are planned for Oct. 15 at Cliff Temple Baptist Church in Dallas, Nov. 5 at First Baptist Church in Abilene, Nov. 19 at Second Baptist Church in Lubbock, Jan. 21 at Willow Meadows Baptist Church in Houston, Feb. 4 at First Baptist Church in San Marcos and April 21 at Seventh and James Baptist Church in Waco.

DonorBridge benefits Buckner. Buckner International raised $288,774.98 during the recent DonorBridge Giving Day. Buckner raised $193,505 from 224 donors in 17 states, as well as one gift from Puerto Rico and one from Afghanistan by a U.S. soldier who traveled with Buckner on a mission trip in 2007. Additionally, Buckner received $85,269.98 in matching funds, provided by Communities Foundation of Texas and an anonymous Buckner donor, as well as a $10,000 prize awarded by Dallas Foundation for the highest number of individual donors to a nonprofit with an operating budget of more than $1 million.

Partnership bolsters Texas Hunger Initiative. The Texas Hunger Initiative has entered a four-year partnership with Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit organization, as part of its No Kid Hungry campaign. The partnership provides the Texas Hunger Initiative $230,000 for 2011. The No Kid Hungry campaign is a national effort to end food insecurity in children by 2015, a goal the Texas Hunger Initiative shares for children in Texas, which currently has the second-highest childhood food insecurity rate in the country. The campaign seeks to connect children facing hunger to the appropriate federal nutrition programs, strengthen and support hunger initiatives already in progress and provide educational resources for hungry families. The Texas Hunger Initiative is a project of the Baylor University School of Social Work, in cooperation with the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission.

Congressional coalition honors Buckner families. Four Buckner Children and Family Services families were recognized as 2011 Angels in Adoption by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. In making nominations for the award, Rep. Mac Thornberry selected Amarillo residents Tim and December Barcroft, who have fostered three sisters and plan to adopt the girls; Rep. Pete Sessions selected Dallas residents Karen and Bryan Perry, who have made more than 30 trips to Guatemala to care for orphans; Rep. Louie Gohmert selected Longview residents Kara and Locke Curfman, who have foster several children, including some with significant special needs, and have adopted two children; and Rep. Mike Conaway selected Midland resident Robert Ewing, a single father to six adopted children and foster parent to one. The Angels in Adoption program provides an opportunity for members of the U.S. Congress to honor the good work of their constituents who have enriched the lives of foster children and orphans in the United States and abroad.