Lenten campaign fights hunger locally, globally

By David Eck

ARCHDIOCESE -- In the midst of Advent, employees in the archdiocesan Catholic Social Action office and Catholic Relief Services officials are looking ahead to Lent and the annual Operation Rice Bowl campaign (ORB).

ORB materials, including the cardboard bowls, posters and teaching aides, are now being ordered for 2008, said Cori Thibodeau, regional director for the archdiocesan Catholic Social Action office, who coordinates the local ORB effort.

In addition, the office is hosting workshops next month in Cincinnati and Dayton that will teach parish and school representatives how to advertise and implement ORB in their organization. The Dayton workshops will be held January 7 at noon and 7:30 p.m. at Trinity Center. The Cincinnati events will be held Jan. 8 at St. Leo the Great Church at noon and at 7 p.m. at St Monica-St. George Church.

Each workshop is 90 minutes and will be led by representatives from Catholic Relief Services. There will also be two $500 grants given to organizations that develop creative strategies in implementing ORB.

"Every Lent, many parishes participate in this," Thibodeau said. "They look at prayer, fasting, almsgiving and learning."

ORB is a Lenten campaign in cooperation with Catholic Relief Services to raise funds to combat hunger around the world and in local dioceses.

In 2007, $73,486 was raised in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Thibodeau said. Of that, $55,114 (75 percent) was sent to the CRS while the remaining 25 percent was used for hunger, poverty and education programs within the archdiocese.

"We try to spread (the local share) throughout the archdiocese," Thibodeau said. "We often have groups contact our office looking for donations for their hunger and poverty efforts and this enables us to respond."

Some of the organizations that received ORB grants in 2007 included St. Vincent de Paul in Dayton and Cincinnati, the Interfaith Hospitality Network in Springfield and Cincinnati, Catholic Social Services Mission Services, The Other Place in Dayton, Nurses for International Development in Huber Heights and Caring Kitchen in Dayton.

The grants are given in late fall.

The food pantry operated by Catholic Social Services (CSS) received a grant from the Operation Rice Bowl campaign this year.

"It's a part of multiple fund raising that we need to sustain the pantry," said Nympha Clark, manager of mission services for CSS. "We are very, very grateful for their contribution because it helps us provide the food."

While it isn't used to buy food directly, Clark said, the money is used to fund the pantry's operation. The campaign also strengthens the relationship CSS has with local parishes and helps raise the hunger issue in the larger Catholic community.

"It strengthens our linkage with the Catholics in the community, the parishes," Clark said. "That is just very, very critical for us because we do get our food from the emergency foodbank, but we also get it from the Catholic parishes."

The familiar purple-and-white cardboard bowls start appearing in Catholic households at the beginning of Lent. Family members toss their donations - large and small - into the bowl. Some families forsake extravagances, such as a meal out, and instead put the money into Operation Rice Bowl.

"It's good for all age groups," Thibodeau said. "It's also a good tool for many schools to take on as a project."

The collection is significant because donations are used both globally and locally, she said.