Bread Not Stones

Scheduled Appearances

"Is there anyone among you who,
if your child asks for bread,
will give a stone?"
(Matthew 7:9)

Anticipated Cities & Scheduled Appearances

Los Angeles, CA September 5-6

Gallup, NM September 8

Albuquerque, NM September 9-10

Amarillo, TX September 11

San Angelo, TX September 12-13

San Antonio, TX September 14

Houston, TX September 15-16

Dallas, TX September 17-18

Kansas City, MO September 22

New Ulm, MN September 24

Crookston, MN September 25-26

St. Cloud, MN September 27

Minneapolis, MN September 28-29

Chicago, IL October 3-4

South Bend, IN October 5

Grand Rapids, MI October 6

Lansing, MI October 7

Saginaw, MI October 8

Detroit, MI October 9-10

Ann Arbor, MI October 11

Columbus, OH October 14-15

Cleveland, OH October 16-17

Pittsburgh, PA October 18-19

Baltimore, MD October 20

Washington, DC October 21-22

Philadelphia, PA October 23-24

New York, NY October 27-28

Boston, MA October 29-30

Portland, ME October 31-Nov. 1

Burlington, VT November 2

Goal of the Campaign

The Bread Not Stones Bus Tour is part of Bread Not Stones: A National Catholic Campaign to Redirect Military Spending sponsored by Pax Christi USA. The goal of the campaign is to redirect exorbitant military spending to provide more funds for social needs like health care, education, and job training.

Pax Christi USA initiated the campaign in response to a statement by its bishop members in which they said,

“In a time of unprecedented economic prosperity and budget surpluses, our political leaders cannot find the resources to provide a good education and reliable health care for tens of millions of our nation’s children and we are told that we cannot afford targeted tax relief for millions of struggling families. We view the federal budget as a moral document that must reflect our degree of compassion for those who are poor and suffering in our own society. During this budget and election cycle we must marshal our resources and summon our moral courage to say ‘no’ to a bloated military budget which robs those who are poor and vulnerable and ‘yes’ to a budget which helps lift people out of poverty.”

Public Education on Wheels

The bus tour is the highlight of the public education phase of the Bread Not Stones campaign. The tour features the 40-foot long “Moneymobile” painted with piles of money and a sign that says “MOVE OUR MONEY… INVEST IN OUR KIDS.” From September through November, the bus will travel from coast to coast, stopping in 30 cities on its intended route.

Using giant, dramatic props and theatrics, the Moneymobile will visit college campuses, high schools, churches, and public parks. Giant, colorful inflatable graphs and charts, some as high as 27 feet, will tell the story of U.S. military spending, revealing the consequences of spending too much money on the military and not enough on social needs. Consequences like 11 million children without health insurance… or the U.S. ranking 13th worldwide in infant mortality and 18th in student test scores.

The props also show that the U.S. grossly exceeds all other countries in military spending and how the defense industry provides millions of dollars to political campaigns.

As election campaigns heat up, our bus tour will give people the tools they need to make military spending an election issue which cannot be ignored. The Moneymobile is a creation of Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, founded by Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, and is being leased to Pax Christi USA to promote our campaign.

The Bread Not Stones campaign is sponsored by Pax Christi USA and endorsed by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the Conference of Major Superiors of Men’s Institutes, NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, the National Black Sisters’ Conference, the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace.

For more information, contact: Pax Christi USA, 532 West 8th Street, Erie, PA 16502-1343 814-452-4784 (fax)

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