Relief assistance is vital for life after catastrophic events, however often times our idea of relief is not adequate enough to sustain life. ECHO Agricultural Conference 2010 was blessed with Robert Sanou who presented innovative outlooks and ways to improve our efforts when tending to such delicate situations.

How many of us know that reconstruction is both physical and spiritual? It is not enough to send supplies and food. Robert stresses the importance of community development through immediate relief, reconstruction, rehabilitation, mitigation and preparation. These steps not only have immediate results but set a foundation for sustainable living and reduction of vulnerability. Through this, members of the community continually thirst for God’s power asking for prayers that bring their “greatest joy.”

The main objective is walking these communities through steps of development and practical relief to a state in which they were before the catastrophe, or even better.

 Video of this presentation and of the others at the ECHO Agricultural Conference 2010 is available for purchase at: http://www.echobooks.org/

Gardens here, gardens there!  Postmarked, is an electronic ECHO newsletter created to connect, share, and celebrate the efforts, ideas, and challenges of students, teachers, and community members involved with community gardens in the United States and in countries throughout the world.  This debut edition highlights, the efforts and ingenuity of students from Bonita Springs Elementary School in Bonita Springs, Florida, to the members of the village of Manjacaze in Mozambique, Africa.  Suggestions for unique winter crops and outside resources of teaching about hunger are also included.  

While soils may be different throughout the communities that compose the world, minds are no less passionate about learning, sharing, and stewarding our given resources.  You are an integral part of not only the communities of Southwest Florida, but communities around the world.   What will your story tell?  

Enjoy this debut edition of the ECHO Community Gardens newsletter -- sharing stories and garden ideas from unique agriculture projects of which you are an essential part!

ECHO Community Gardens newsletter - Winter 2011

TRANSFERING A GIFT FROM AN IRA

IRA Rollover Passes For 2010 and 2011 

Welcome News! The IRA Charitable Rollover passed. On the afternoon of December 17, 2010, the President signed into law The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. This bill restores the IRA Charitable Rollover for 2010 and permits its use in all of 2011. The act is retroactive to January 1, 2010, so donors who previously made 2010 IRA rollovers will qualify.

The principal rules for direct transfers from an IRA to a qualified public charity are that the IRA owner must be 70½ or older and that the transfer is for no more than $100,000 each year. A 2010 transfer qualifies for the required minimum distribution. It must be to a public charity either outright or for a specific purpose, but may not be to a donor advised fund or supporting organization. The transfer is made directly from the IRA custodian to the Echo, Inc.  
A very important potential 2010 benefit exists. Because Congress recognized that it is very late in the year, individuals who choose to make a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) rollover from their IRA trustee to a charity may make their 2010 charitable gift during 2010 or in January of 2011.

Could Acacia trees solve Africa's hunger problems?

By Fred Bahnson and Danielle Nierenberg / December 24, 2010

Faith-based aid groups in Africa have a long and mostly admirable history of working to alleviate hunger. Too often, however, faith groups have focused their relief solely on food aid and have stopped short of addressing hunger’s underlying causes. While doling out sacks of Nebraska wheat during famines or giving farmers yearly gifts of petro-fertilizers and “miracle” seeds may alleviate hunger in the short term, such “aid” merely perpetuates a downward cycle and does nothing to improve the long-term resiliency of the land.

Today, a growing number of churches and Christian development organizations with long tenures in Africa are gaining attention with approaches to hunger that are more holistic, ones that look for answers from African farmers and from the land itself.

Read the whole editorial here:http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2010/1224/Could-Acacia-trees-solve-Africa-s-hunger-problems