Bread's advocacy focus in 2012 will be on protecting the federal programs most vital to hungry people at home and abroad from cuts in the name of deficit reduction. We still have a lot of work to do to convince Congress not to balance the budget on the backs of those who are most needy.

This interactive, engaging workshop in the Lehigh Valley-Eastern Pennsylvania area will give you the tools you need to raise these important issues to your church, campus, or group and encourage people to advocate for and with hungry people. This workshop is cosponsored by the Justice and Advocacy Committee of the Lehigh County Conference of Churches, and by Second Harvest.

Come join us, meet other Bread members and justice activists in your area -- as well as your Bread regional organizer, Larry Hollar -- and get energized to make a difference! Check out the online Offering of Letters campaign materials at www.bread.org/OL.

The workshop is free and open to the public. Please RSVP so we can estimate resources, including sale materials. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. with continental breakfast; the workshop starts at 9 a.m. and ends by 3 p.m. Lunch will be served with a free-will offering to defray workshop expenses.

More detailed information on the workshop, including directions to First Presbyterian Church, is available at http://bread.ppjr.org.

Questions? Email lhollar@bread.org or call 1-800-619-9239.

For Pennsylvanians who live closer to Harrisburg or Philadelphia, see www.bread.org/events for more information on the Thursday evening, March 15, workshop at Christ Presbyterian Church in Camp Hill, and the Saturday, March 17, workshop in Villanova.