Media CenterCelebrate Easter with Your Global Family Through Lenten Alms

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Brittany Wichtendahl
Catholic Relief Services
[email protected]
(757) 748-5003
 

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, March 28, 2024 – This Sunday, as Catholics around the world celebrate the arrival of Easter, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) reminds those in the United States to turn in their CRS Rice Bowl and share the joy of Jesus Christ’s resurrection with the world.

“With the arrival of Easter, we’re reminded of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us and the love that God has for us,” said Beth Martin, CRS’ director for Formation and Mobilization. “We can pay that love forward with our Lenten alms. The small sacrifice that we have each individually made throughout these past 40 days can be turned into a large impact for our sisters and brothers feeling the effects of hunger.”

As countries around the world experience conflict, economic instability and the effects of this year’s El Niño, global hunger and poverty levels have increased. CRS Rice Bowl donations go directly toward CRS programming that focuses on alleviating these factors for communities overseas.

“CRS Rice Bowl’s main function is assisting families in countries outside of the U.S. – where CRS operates – but it also provides funding for fighting hunger here at home,” Martin said. “It’s a special program for us.”

While 75% of CRS Rice Bowl donations go overseas, 25% of the funds stay in the diocese where they are collected. In the past year, an estimated 44 million people in the U.S. experienced food insecurity. Since its inception, CRS Rice Bowl donations have provided more than $80 million to hunger alleviation programs inside the U.S.

“There is a lot happening around the world right now that we can’t control as individuals,” Martin said. “But CRS Rice Bowl gives us the ability to put our faith into action and have a very real, very direct, positive impact on our global family.”

While many parishes and schools hold in-person events to collect Lenten alms, several have established online community giving pages. CRS Rice Bowl participants are encouraged to reach out to their local parish to determine if a special collection will occur or if they should donate via an online community giving page.

Direct donations to CRS are always accepted online, by phone or mail.

Online:

• English: http://crsricebowl.org/give
• Spanish: http://crsplatodearroz.org/donar

By Phone:

• Call 877-435-7277 between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and tell the operator that the gift is for CRS Rice Bowl.

By Mail:

• Please write “CRS Rice Bowl” on the memo line of your check and mail it to:
  Catholic Relief Services
  Attn: CRS Rice Bowl
  P.O. Box 5200
  Harlan, IA 51593-0700

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Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. The agency alleviates suffering and provides assistance to people in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding. For more information, visit www.crs.org or www.crsespanol.org and follow Catholic Relief Services on social media in English at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube; and in Spanish at: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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Online Tools:
CRS Online Press Room: www.crs.org/press-room