Honor family and friends at Christmas -- National Advance hunger-relief ministry unveils its 2007 alternative Christmas card

BIG ISLAND, VA – While Christians are celebrating the joyous Christmas season with family and friends, many Americans will be experiencing first-hand the reality of hunger and poverty in our land of abundance. “It’s sad but true that more than 35 million Americans, including 12 million children, regularly live at risk of not having enough nourishing food to eat, let alone having the wherewithal to celebrate the holidays in the elaborate fashion to which we have become accustomed,” said Carol Breitinger, Communications Director for the Society of St. Andrew.

“This year you and your family can change that for many hungry American families,” Breitinger explained. “A gift donation to the Society of St. Andrew in honor of special people in your life will provide hundreds, even thousands, of servings of fresh, nutritious produce to the poor throughout the nation.”

The Society of St. Andrew (SoSA) is a national nonprofit hunger-relief ministry and Advance Special #801600. SoSA saves perfectly good, nutritious, excess fresh produce that will go to waste for various marketing reasons and gets it distributed free to service agencies across the country that feed the hungry.

The Society of St. Andrew has introduced its exclusive 2007 alternative Christmas card. “This full color, 5”x7” card will be used to announce gift donations made in honor of someone and to thank donors for their special Christmas contributions,” Breitinger pointed out.

The Christmas Gift Donation Card features an inspirational message and original art depicting God’s “Light” come to Bethlehem in the form of the Infant Jesus. The one-of-a-kind card art was created expressly for the Society of St. Andrew by Virginia artist Annis McCabe. It is the thirteenth annual Christmas card design she has created and donated to SoSA as a fundraiser to feed the hungry.

The minimum gift donation for each card is $12, which will provide about 800 servings of food to the hungry through SoSA’s fresh food salvage programs: Gleaning Network, Potato & Produce Project, Harvest of Hope, and Hunger Relief Advocate Initiative. “The extraordinary popularity of this program continues to grow, providing more and more servings of fresh food to the hungry each year,” Breitinger said. “Last year over $96,000 was raised, providing 4.8 million servings of food nationwide!”

Each person honored with a gift donation will receive the Society of St. Andrew’s alternative Christmas card announcing the gift in their honor with the name of the giver. The donor will also receive the card acknowledging their tax deductible gifts.

“This is the perfect gift for someone who has everything,” concluded Breitinger. “It’s a super stocking stuffer, too. No other gift can do so much for so many with so little! And you can finish your gift shopping and card lists in just a few minutes.”

Christmas Gift Donation Cards can be ordered by mail, phone, fax, or online: 800-333-4597; fax at 434-299-5949; email to card@endhunger.org; online at www.endhunger.org/card.

For more information about the Society of St. Andrew and its hunger-relief ministry or Christmas Gift Donation Cards call 800-333-4597, email sosausa@endhunger.org or go to SoSA’s website at www.endhunger.org.