CRS Rice Bowl helps alleviate hunger, poverty in the archdiocese and across the world
For 50 years, the Catholic Relief Services’ Rice Bowl campaign has invited families and individuals to deepen their solidarity with the poor through Lenten prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
This year, donations to the Rice Bowl fundraiser are especially needed as Catholic Relief Services faces the federal government’s freeze on funds from the United States Agency for International Development, said Susan Buerkle, the Missouri state chapter lead for Catholic Relief Services and member of the archdiocesan CRS committee.
Bonne Terre Food Pantry volunteers Nate Spruell and Fred Basse, parishioners at St. Joseph in Bonne Terre, bagged food for clients March 3 at the food pantry in the old St. Joseph School in Bonne Terre. The food pantry — open 9 to 11 a.m. Mondays and 5 to 6 p.m. the second Wednesday of the month — received funding from last year’s Catholic Relief Services’ Rice Bowl campaign.
“We’re kind of in a crisis, because it’s like 55% of (CRS) funding that’s tied to USAID,” she said. “…Now more than ever, in order to continue their programming, they’re going to need funding. They’re already having to cut staff, and they’re already cutting programs.”
Catholic Relief Services, the international relief and development agency of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, raises funds through the Rice Bowl that go toward efforts to alleviate hunger and poverty both around the world and in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Seventy-five percent of the gifts support international humanitarian programs including agriculture projects helping farmers improve harvests; water and sanitation projects bringing clean water to communities; microfinance projects that support small businesses; mother and child health projects offering health and nutrition services; and education projects providing resources and training.
Twenty-five percent of the money raised by the Rice Bowl in the Archdiocese of St. Louis goes to local groups. In 2024, the funds were divided among nine food pantries in the archdiocese, three in each vicariate.
The Rice Bowl campaign “invites us to renew our commitment to our global family,” Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski wrote in a letter to priests.
“Right now, millions of our vulnerable brothers and sisters in St. Louis and around the world are seeking hope in the face of struggle,” he said. “By participating in the CRS Rice Bowl, we can provide hope whilst responding to Jesus’ call to share our blessings and walk in solidarity with them.”
The Rice Bowl began in the Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, during Lent 1975. Parishioners in the diocese raised money to combat world hunger, especially in the drought-stricken Sahel region of Africa. The following year, the Rice Bowl was adopted as a national program of Catholic Relief Services in preparation for the 41st International Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia and has continued every year since.
Funds given through the Rice Bowl support the work of CRS in more than 120 countries around the world. Since its inception, the Rice Bowl has raised more than $350 million.
Catholic Relief Services has been a top recipient of USAID funds. On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump issued an executive order freezing federal spending on foreign assistance.
Carolyn Woo, who served from 2012-2016 as president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services, told OSV News that while she cannot speak for all USAID projects, CRS projects funded by USAID “have significant impact on people’s health, their livelihoods, their well-being, their food and even medicine.”
“So the freeze, where it affects programs like this, really puts people’s health, livelihood on the line, and it could actually cause death,” said Woo, currently a distinguished president’s fellow for global development at Purdue University.
Caring for neighbors near and far
Susan Buerkle is a parishioner at Mary Mother of the Church in south St. Louis County, which reintroduced the Rice Bowl as a Lenten practice in 2012. Since then, the parish has worked to incorporate the theme of global solidarity through not just monetary donations to the Rice Bowl but also in the prayers for the faithful and sharing stories of Catholic Relief Services’ work in other countries. One year, the parish hosted a simple supper using the soup recipes shared on the Rice Bowl website.
“Our parish is a small parish, but we’re very mission-oriented. Our sign that you see when you leave the (parish) driveway says, ‘You are now entering the mission field,’” Buerkle said. “We vouch for the dignity of the human being from pre-born, to our neighbors here and neighbors throughout the world.”
Her own support for Catholic Relief Services is inspired by Pope Francis’ “Fratelli Tutti: On Fraternity and Social Friendship.” The Rice Bowl campaign goes hand in hand with the encyclical’s themes by giving us “an awareness of our global Church, that we are not just the U.S. Church; we’re a Church of the world, and we’re all called to care for each other,” Buerkle said. “Who’s our neighbor? We all share a common home.”
“We need to be conscious that we don’t live in a bubble, and what we do and how we respond to needs will have repercussions, and it will affect us. It will affect peace worldwide,” she continued. “We’ve been given such great gifts and such great resources, and we’re called to share them.”
Ascension Parish in Chesterfield has offered the Rice Bowl to parishioners during Lent for many years, but in 2023, the parish made a renewed effort to support the Rice Bowl, social justice commission leader Kelly Bulanda said.
Many people don’t know that Rice Bowl funds support those in need both here in St. Louis and abroad, Bulanda said. Some people are more drawn to give to overseas missions, while others want to focus on food pantries here in St. Louis. “This is a way to get to both,” she said. “…We’re just trying to promote it and ask people to give generously.”
Ana Belén Mulul Yat and her son, Joseph Gael Joj Mulul, 1, cooked lunch at their home in Pacacja Centro, in Santa María Chiquimula, Guatemala. Ana Belén received 50 eggs from Catholic Relief Services’ Learning for Life project every 15 days at Pacacja Centro Community School where her sons Francisco Joj, 9, and Dylan Joj, 6, attend.
Ascension School is participating in the Rice Bowl for the third year, distributing the boxes to students and encouraging families to give to the cause throughout Lent.
“We often suggest the dinner table, or a kitchen table, as the place to put it, so it’s a constant reminder” for the 40 days, Ascension principal Kelley Fullmer said. “And they’re encouraged to bring it at the end of Lent to the offertory at Mass.”
While the Rice Bowl encourages almsgiving during Lent, the practice of making sacrifices and giving money continues to resonate with students after they turn in their bowls, Fullmer said.
“One cool piece that we’ve seen is kids learning about (almsgiving) and then wanting to do more throughout the year,” she said. “It’s is a yearly reminder of something I should be doing all year long.”
Support the Rice Bowl
Collect money in the Rice Bowl provided by your parish or school and return on the designated date.
Donate online at crsricebowl.org/ donate-to-crs-rice-bowl
Donate by phone, 24/7, at 1-877-435-7277
Mail a check to: Catholic Relief Services, P.O. Box 5200, CRS Rice Bowl, Harlan, IA 51593-0700
Feeding the hungry at home
Twenty-five percent of the money raised through the Rice Bowl in the Archdiocese of St. Louis goes to local groups. In 2024, the funds were divided among nine parishes, three in each vicariate:
Northern Vicariate:
•St. Vincent de Paul at Epiphany of Our Lord Food Pantry
•St. Agnes Apartments Food Pantry
•Our Lady of Perpetual Help Food Pantry
Western Vicariate:
•St. Vincent de Paul at St. Bridget of Kildare Food Pantry
•St. Vincent de Paul at Sacred Heart (Troy) Food Pantry
•St. Francis Borgia Parish Food Pantry
Southern Vicariate:
•St. Vincent de Paul at St. Agnes Food Pantry
•St. Vincent de Paul at St. Joseph (Bonne Terre) Food Pantry
•St. Vincent de Paul at Immaculate Conception (Park Hills) Food Pantry
Catholic Relief Services
Catholic Relief Services is the international relief and development agency of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. It was founded in 1943 to serve World War II survivors in Europe and has since expanded to reach more than 200 million people in more than 120 countries. To learn more, visit crs.org.
Lenten resources from Catholic Relief Services
Lenten calendar with daily ideas for prayer, fasting and almsgiving: stlreview.com/3QJsxcZ
Meatless recipes from around the world: crsricebowl.org/recipe
To learn more about the Rice Bowl and the people it helps, visit crsricebowl.org.
Advocate for CRS
Catholic Relief Services is asking U.S. Catholics to contact their senators and representatives to tell them to urge the administration to resume the disbursement of foreign assistance funds. A template letter to send to your congressional representatives can be found at support.crs.org/act/foreign-aid-operations.
