Pimentel to speak at 2025 Bread for the World summit

BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Bread for the World, a national Christian organization focused on advocating for the reduction of world hunger, holds an annual Advocacy Summit with six attendants from the Rio Grande Valley on Monday.

The Advocacy Summit will be located in Washington D.C. and held from June 9-11. The summit includes training to speak with members of congress and the last day. The Rio Grande Valley will have Sister Norma Pimentel attending the summit for her first year and she will also be speaking at the conference. Pimentel is the executive director of Catholic Charities Rio Grande Valley, the charitable branch of the Diocese of Brownsville that provides services for low-income communities in the Rio Grande Valley. She said one of the biggest issues facing the RGV community is food insecurity and Bread for the World speaks with representatives of Congress to assure there are aids available, specifically for children.

“The current situation is that the people here in the valley are economically very poor, Pimentel said. “They are also suffering economically because the standard of living is very expensive, transportation, gasoline, and jobs pay very little.”

The summit will also involve about 100 college students on Tuesday meeting to speak with members of Congress to educate them on issues of food instability in hopes of securing legislation. UTRGV is bringing political science student Andrea Maldonado for this focus. Pimentel said when people hear other people’s experiences, such as with food insecurity in the valley, it can give them the motivation to see the importance in that subject.

“When a whole group comes together that thinks this is important, it encourages each other, it gives us clarity on the things that are important and need to be done,” Pimentel said.

Texas currently faces a proposed $300 billion cut in its SNAP program, meanwhile 314,724 people are eligible for the program in Cameron and Willacy county, and 134,173 people in Hidalgo county. Pimentel said she plans on speaking about the reality that the valley faces as a food dessert at the summit.

“We are doing our part, but the truth is, it is everyone’s responsibility to come together and figure out how to help so people don’t suffer from hunger and have a home and can be comfortable in their homes,” Pimentel said.

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