WILL YOU HELP US MAKE A POT OF “STONE SOUP”? Once upon a time there was a man who was hungry. He took his pot and sat at the side of the road. He then lit a fire and put water and a stone into the pot. A passer-by asked him what he was making. “Stone soup, but it would be even better with a cabbage.” The passer-by went and got a cabbage and put it in the soup. Another person passed along and asked the same question. “It’s stone soup, but it would be better with a piece of bacon.” Each person who passed by added something, so that finally the soup began to smell delicious with carrots, onions, pasta, and meat.  The cook then removed the small stone and kept it for the next time. Everyone had a wonderful meal. Much of our work with Rich in Mercy and Partners in Progress is like the pot of water with its stone.  Answering the phone, keeping records, writing appeal letters, stuffing envelopes, writing grant proposals – these do nothing directly to help the poor of the world help themselves or alleviate the symptoms or remove the causes of their poverty.  But like the pot of water and the inedible stone, they are the starting point – the base – into which others can add their own nourishing and appetizing elements.  Each person can add his bit of cabbage or onion or carrot or bacon to the pot and together we can make something good to help our neighbors – our brothers and sisters – help themselves in their struggle to overcome the factors that have kept them poor for generations.  In this pot with its stone “soup starter” there is a common cause:  the rejection of injustice and the poverty that results from it and the conviction that it is possible to call on all sorts of people (with their diversity of gifts, talents, and financial resources) to start from where we are to make the world a better place for everyone. The “Stone Soup” Endowment Fund is inspired by this story of each person contributing a little to make something that is good for all.  Covering the cost of operating expenses for Rich in Mercy and Partners in Progress can be a real challenge. We do everything we can to keep those costs as low as possible and to assure that the donations we receive for specific projects are used for those projects and nothing else.  YOU CAN HELP us achieve this goal by pledging to add your little bit - only $5 - each month to our “STONE SOUP” ENDOWMENT FUND. You can even MULTIPLY your contribution by getting 5 of your friends each to pledge THEIR “little bit”, their own $5 a month. The proceeds from this endowment will help us meet the necessary costs of running Rich in Mercy and Partners in Progress while the endowed funds themselves, like the stone in the story, will continue to be there in the future so that we can keep “making soup”. Any excess of the proceeds over what is needed for operating expenses will go directly to helping the poor help themselves. The financial stability that such an endowment provides allows us to concentrate our energy, talents, and resources where they do the most good by providing opportunities and inspiring initiatives to meet the needs of the most impoverished peoples of the Americas and by helping the organized poor help themselves.  Together we are working “men nan men” (“hand in hand”) to make their world – and OURS – a better place! Add YOUR little bit to make one BIG POT of “stone soup”! Click here to Make a Donation