(OSV News) – With Easter celebrations hours away, the U.S. bishops’ humanitarian agency is urging the faithful to “stand in solidarity with our global family” by turning in their Lenten Rice Bowl contributions.
In an April 18 press release, Catholic Relief Services – the official international relief and development agency of the U.S. Catholic community – highlighted a new urgency for the campaign, which over the past five decades has raised more than $350 million to support domestic and overseas poverty relief efforts.
With its iconic cardboard donation box, Rice Bowl combines the traditional Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving to provide humanitarian aid, spiritual renewal and increased solidarity with those in need.
Of the funds collected, 25 percent help local diocesan outreaches, with 75 percent benefiting CRS programs abroad.
The campaign, launched in 1975 by Msgr. Robert Coll as a local effort in the Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, became a national initiative through its introduction at the Philadelphia-based 41st International Eucharistic Congress in 1976, and its subsequent adoption by the U.S. bishops through CRS.
Now, “the need for CRS Rice Bowl donations is greater than ever,” due to “the U.S. reshaping its international humanitarian aid policies and funding,” said CRS in its media release.
Since January, the Trump administration has slashed billions in U.S. foreign aid, throwing global humanitarian aid operations into chaos. While the administration moved to partially reverse some cuts, relief agencies have warned that millions of lives are at risk worldwide without full restoration of the funding.
CRS said that it has had “vital humanitarian programs related to food insecurity, malnutrition and poverty alleviation terminated” due to the administration’s cuts.
Cuts to funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has since been dissolved, included funding for efforts by Catholic and other faith-based humanitarian groups such as CRS. Some of USAID’s remaining functions were moved to the State Department.
In a statement, the State Department said funding cuts are part of the Trump administration’s efforts to “reorient foreign assistance programming after decades of mismanagement, fraud, and misaligned priorities in the delivery of foreign assistance.”
“When we talk about our programs being terminated, we’re really talking about people,” said CRS president and CEO Sean Callahan. “It’s farmers no longer receiving tools to plant their crops, children no longer receiving medicine, families no longer getting food for their tables.”
From fiscal years 2013 to 2022, CRS had been USAID’s top partner, receiving a total of over $4.6 billion during that 10-year period for humanitarian relief.
With USAID funding no longer available, Callahan said, “donations from CRS Rice Bowl are now critical for us to continue our lifesaving work.”
Rice Bowl is “rooted in Catholic social teaching,” reflecting “the principle of solidarity – that we are one human family, and that wealthier nations have a responsibility to support nations in need,” said Callahan. “When our sisters and brothers are in need, no matter where they live, it affects us all. By giving through CRS Rice Bowl, U.S. Catholics join a collective effort to uphold human dignity and serve the most vulnerable.”
While the scope of need and the “global challenges” presented by the administration’s withdrawal from foreign aid, “small acts from individuals, parishes and dioceses in the U.S. can create a big impact,” said CRS in its release.
The agency noted the campaign addresses immediate needs while also supporting “long-term solutions to hunger and poverty.”
“Ending the cycle of hunger and poverty is more than handing out provisions of rice or wheat,” said Callahan. “It’s also about building long-term relationships with these communities.”
He pointed to Rice Bowl’s impact in Nigeria, where donations have provided families with cooking supplies.
“One woman used them to start selling food at the market,” said Callahan. “Now she’s supporting her family and helping other women launch their own businesses. She's paying it forward.”
Many of the nation’s Catholic parishes and schools directly collect – either in person or electronically – the Rice Bowl funds for forwarding to CRS.
Donations can also be made directly online at crsricebowl.org/give or crsplatodearroz.org/donar.
Those wishing to donate by phone can call 877-435-7277. Checks payable to Catholic Relief Services, indicating “CRS Rice Bowl” in the memo field, can be sent to CRS Rice Bowl at P.O. Box 5278, Tipton, Iowa, 52772-0517.
“The 50th anniversary of CRS Rice Bowl is a perfect milestone for us to recommit to the fight against global hunger and poverty,” said Callahan. “With the support of the faithful here in the U.S. for programs like CRS Rice Bowl, we are going to continue our work for another 50 years and beyond.”
(Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News.)
