CRS Rice Bowl Brings Lent to Life to End Hunger

BALTIMORE, March 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- CRS Rice Bowl 2014, the Lenten program known for its colorful cardboard rice bowl and as a way to help transform the lives of those in need will launch on March 5, Ash Wednesday with the introduction of a free CRS Rice Bowl App for iPhone and Android devices. For 39 years, CRS Rice Bowl has been used by families, schools and parishes to put a face on hunger and poverty and learn how Catholic Relief Services brings solutions to improve the lives of others.

"CRS Rice Bowl is a Lenten tradition for Catholics around the United States who use the activities and features to bring relevance to their spiritual journey," said Joan Rosenhauer executive vice president of U.S. Operations for CRS. "Pope Francis has renewed the call to put those in need before our own needs. CRS Rice Bowl is a great way to respond."

Many Catholics around the United States know the face of Thomas Awiapo from Ghana. Thomas is a living testament to the power of CRS Rice Bowl. Each year he spends the season of Lent in the United States sharing his personal story.

Orphaned before the age of 10, Awiapo survived bleak poverty and hunger in his small African village. At age 12, his search for food led him to a school where Catholic Relief Services (CRS) – with funds contributed through the CRS Rice Bowl program – was providing lunch. Because of this food, Awiapo survived and continued school, earning a master's degree. Today he lives in Ghana with his wife and four children and works for CRS.

"It's remarkable to see how much compassion young people display when they meet Thomas," said Joan Rosenhauer, executive vice president of U.S. Operations for CRS. "At one school when a student heard Thomas say that any day could be his birthday because he doesn't have a record or a parent to tell him his birth date, the student asked the assembly to sing Happy Birthday. It's this kind of compassion and care for others that we're all being asked to put into action through CRS Rice Bowl."

The CRS Rice Bowl App comes at a time when mobile technology is a preferred platform for many people. So too in the humanitarian work CRS does overseas.

Last year, Catholic Relief Services, one of the largest humanitarian aid and emergency relief organizations in the world, helped over 10 million people in 91 countries overseas with services to improve health, food production, and prepare for and recover from disasters.

With 64% of all mobile phone users in the developing world, CRS uses cell phones as one of the main technologies to improve services. Today, cell phones are used to track plant pests and diseases, share crop production and market information, improve literacy, monitor patient adherence to HIV and AIDS treatment, rapidly assess critical needs during emergency response efforts, and provide distance learning classes to community workers on a scale not possible in the past.

"I like the new CRS Rice Bowl App," said Awiapo. "It allows people to make Lent more personal because all the resources are on their phones. Now they can use them when they want and for such a great cause. I am humbled everyday by the enthusiasm and love I meet when I visit people in the United States. I just want to say thank you for helping to end hunger."

With the App people can schedule delivery of daily reflections to their mobile device, set and track their progress towards a personal Lenten goal, view the simple meatless recipes to prepare and serve on Fridays during Lent, and read or watch stories about the people whose lives have been changed. The App is free and can be downloaded from the iTunes and Goggle Play stores or at crsricebowl.org/app

"I think the season of Lent sometimes gets away from us. We start out with such good intentions, and suddenly it's Holy Week. I've got the App on my phone so I can make sure no matter where I am I can take a few minutes to pray and reflect and track my progress on my sacrificial goal. For someone like me it's ideal," said Rosenhauer.

CRS Rice Bowl is in its 39^th year with more than 13,000 parishes and schools participating in the program. Last year CRS Rice Bowl raised over $7 million to support CRS programs overseas bringing sustainable solutions to fight poverty and hunger. Twenty-five percent of Rice Bowl donations remain in the diocese where they are raised to address local needs.

For more information on the program please visit crsricebowl.org or see the online media kit. To download the CRS Rice Bowl App visit crsricebowl.org/app.

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 91 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. For more information, please visit www.crs.org or www.crsespanol.org and follow CRS on Twitter @CatholicRelief and @CRS_expertise and youtube.com/user/CatholicRelief.

Video: http://youtu.be/S01T5cFzImU
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Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140305/DC76752-b

SOURCE Catholic Relief Services