By Rick Steves
To add meaning to the holiday season, every Christmas I help raise funds for Bread for the World with the help of my traveling friends at Rick Steves’ Europe. In these tumultuous times, the needs of those experiencing hunger and poverty are particularly great – but that means the rewards are too!
I believe hungry people need a strong and compassionate advocate like Bread for the World— especially when the need in our world is so great. President Trump and members of Congress are pushing for unprecedented cuts to programs that help hungry people. And right now, 20 million people are threatened by famine in South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria and Yemen. Nutrition rather than hunger means stability rather than chaos—that’s both compassionate and smart for our country’s security.
The need is so clear, the momentum is so good, and Bread for the World is so effective. That’s why I’m inspired to offer you this challenge: give a gift today, and I’ll match your donation dollar for dollar, up to $250,000. Together we can empower Bread for the World’s work with $500,000 – and make a difference for millions of hungry people both at home and abroad this Christmas.
I see Bread for the World not as a charity, but as a service. If we care about hunger, in my opinion, there is no more effective way to put our dollars to work to fight it. Bread takes my concern about hunger and transforms it into effective action by smartly—and doggedly–going into the halls of our government and speaking up for hungry people in our country and around the world. While the challenges are immense, so are the rewards, and we have reason for hope.
So here’s my challenge to you: Help Bread for the World with your donation of $100 or more. As a thank you, I’ll match your donation and send you three gifts (worth $35) from my Rick Steves’ European Christmas collection:
- “Rick Steves’ European Christmas” DVD (our public television special celebrating a traditional, non-commercial, and sacred Christmas in seven different countries).
- “Rick Steves’ European Christmas” coffee table book (the fun insights and best photos I gathered while producing the special).
- “Rick Steves’ European Christmas” music CD (produced while filming, featuring our 20 favorite European carols—this is my personal favorite for fresh new Christmas-time music).
I’ll happily pay for the cost of these three gifts, as well as the shipping, so that Bread for the World can put 100 percent of your donation to work giving a voice to hungry people. Make your gift by Dec. 10 —and you’ll get everything, along with our latest travel newsletter, in time for Christmas.
These gifts will add a wonderful new dimension to your family celebrations for years to come, while also empowering you to play a role in ending hunger and poverty here in the U.S. and around the world.
Thanks, and Merry Christmas!
Rick Steves is the host of public television’s most-watched, longest-running travel series, “Rick Steves’ Europe,” and the author of more than 50 travel guidebooks.
