Join the RIP Medical Debt Campaign
On April 18, 2022, we kick off our 90-day
R.I.P. Medical Debt campaign to raise
$15,000 in Blackhawk Presbytery to
relieve medical debt for vulnerable individuals and households.
This amount will wipe out
$1,500,000 in debt!
As much as possible, we will target debt
in our region.
Won’t you join us?
Did you know that Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the U.S.?
More than 1 in 3 Americans struggle to afford the cost of their medical care. In 2020, collection agencies held $140 billion in unpaid medical debts. Such debts can be financially devastating to households that are already struggling, leaving them unable to secure housing, reliable transportation, or other daily necessities. Medical debt also destroys the financial stability of large segments of America’s most vulnerable communities: the sick, the elderly, the poor, and veterans. It also targets the middle class, driving many families into poverty.
The Mission Committee of Blackhawk Presbytery and the Matthew 25 Task Force invite you to join with us in a spring campaign to eliminate medical debt. We are actively engaged in working toward the three main goals of Matthew 25: building congregational vitality, dismantling structural racism, and eradicating systemic poverty.
Many of us have been challenged by the call to address systemic poverty. We know that mission and charity work, such as food pantries and free meals, are good and beneficial in the short term, but do little to get at the root causes of poverty. RIP Medical Debt, a national nonprofit whose purpose is to abolish financially burdensome medical debt around the United States, works to address this one root cause.
Medical debt isn’t the result of bad decisions. It’s a debt of necessity. By forgiving this debt we can give struggling individuals, and their families, a fresh start. We hope to give those affected the ability to seek the continued medical care they need and help them back towards financial stability.
What does RIP do?
One dollar donated to RIP erases an average of $100 of medical debt. Prior to RIP’s purchase, many of these bills passed through months or years of collection. Once RIP owns the debt, they notify the thousands of individuals whose debts were purchased that they are free of any obligation to pay and RIP will remove any negative credit marks associated with the debt.
Qualifications for RIP debt relief:
– People earning two times or below the federal poverty level.
– Those whose debt is five percent or more of their gross annual income.
Since inception, RIP has raised enough money to abolish over $5.6 billion of medical debt for over 3.1 million families. To learn more or ask any questions, visit their website at RIPmedicaldebt.org
Here are some ways you might raise funds in your congregation and community:
– Race for Change: Invite groups in your congregation to decorate cans or jars to collect loose change each week. Line up the containers and move them forward along a track based on how much money is given each week. At the end of the race, announce the winner and award them a certificate.
– Invite groups who gather in your church building to contribute.
– Buy a box of assorted size bandaids and “sell” bandaids for a donation. The bigger the donation, the bigger the bandaid.
– Hold a Facebook challenge. Invite members to create videos, photos or other images that reflect your church’s commitment to mission, and let viewers “vote” with their contributions.
– Share the info in your weekly worship, and ask Session to approve a special offering.
– Hold a talent show and take donations as “admission.”
– Provide paper plates and craft materials to make hats. Hold a contest to vote with donations for the best hat, most creative hat, funniest hat. If you’re brave enough, model the hats and post pictures on social media!
Here’s how to participate:
– Meet with your congregation’s leaders and determine your goal.
– Let the Blackhawk Mission Committee know your goal/pledge.
– Publicize the campaign in your church.
– Send your contribution to Blackhawk Presbytery (by mailed check) with the memo “RIP.”
– Or encourage individuals to donate online.
