For Lent, Three Ways To Give

WASHINGTON — The Gospel reading for Ash Wednesday, taken from Matthew 6, calls followers of Christ to give alms, fast and pray during Lent.

Catholics around the country, whether on their own or at the behest of organizations that help the poor, are finding ways to make sacrifices for the needy.

Since 1976, Catholic Relief Services has tried to help Catholics adhere to the call to fast and give alms with calendars and simple cardboard cartons, known as “rice bowls,” that encourage them to give.

Though Operation Rice Bowl is the best-known and largest-organized Lent-centered fund-raising drive, it's not the only one. Three years ago Catholic World Mission, based in Connecticut, began the Schoolhouse Partner Program to help fund its program Mano Amiga (Spanish for “helping hand”).

“Everything we do has evangelization at its core, but in that we have to deal with issues of poverty from a physical, intellectual and spiritual perspective,” said Ken Davison, executive director of Catholic World Mission. “That involves medical aid, educational facilities and catechism.”

Mano Amiga's primary mission is to fund, build and help operate Catholic schools in the poorest areas of Latin America. To date, there are 16 Mano Amiga schools in Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Venezuela and El Salvador. More are in the planning stages.

During Lent, Mano Amiga uses the Schoolhouse Partner Program to help Catholic children in the materially wealthy United States to raise money for their less-fortunate peers in Latin America.

Last year, the Schoolhouse Partner Program was in about 25 schools and raised about $25,000. Davison said Catholic World Mission anticipates between $600 and $1,000 from each organization that hosts the Schoolhouse Partner Program.

“This year we'll be in more schools, more parishes, more clubs and we'll have more family participation,” Davison said. “Kids are coming up with some really creative ways to observe Lent and contribute through the Schoolhouse Partner Program.”

In California, for example, three elementary-school-aged children organized a “rosary-a-thon” last year. They had people in their parish, home-school group, family and friends donate a certain amount of money per mystery. Then the children prayed all 20 mysteries, offering them for all the intentions of their sponsors and the Mano Amiga faculty and students.

Two children in Missouri, Davison reported, organized a car wash and raised $300. A friend of theirs earned $60 from baby-sitting during Lent and donated it all.

Children who participate in the Schoolhouse Partner Program receive a collection box in the design of a schoolhouse. They may also receive a CD-ROM, a St. Juan Diego coloring book and an animated video to help them learn about the Blessed Mother's appearances in Mexico.

Posters, bookmarks, prayer cards and information sheets about Lent are also part of the program, along with an array of other Lent-appropriate learning materials for children helping to raise funds.

Making God Visible

Then there are projects that start with an individual's initiative, like Operation Starfish.

It started when Father Richard Martin was walking his dog, Pete, one evening in the mid-1990s, the Arlington Herald, the newspaper of the Diocese of Arlington, Va., reported. He was ruminating about how large his parish, the Church of the Nativity in Burke, Va., is and thought, “If during Lent every family could save 50 cents a day for the 40 days of Lent, we would collect $20 from each family, times 2,500 families, which would be $50,000.”

The initial collection went beyond that vision — to the tune of $67,000. A succeeding year, parishioners came up with almost $95,000.

The proceeds were earmarked for a slum outside the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince called Cité Soleil. The donation was sent to Food for the Poor, a Florida-based agency that works in Latin America and the Caribbean.

An official at Food for the Poor commenting on Nativity's donation told a Washington Post reporter in 1998 that he had not seen any Lent project supply that big a gift.

Father Martin told the Herald he was especially impressed with the donations made by children.

One 10-year-old wrote to him: “Dear Father Martin: I help deliver a newspaper. My paycheck is $26 a month. I would like to give $25 for the Starfish Project you're working on.”

Commenting on parishioners like that, the pastor said, “We not only prayed for the people in Haiti, we made God visible.”

Operation Rice Bowl

Still, Operation Rice Bowl remains the best known — and by far the biggest — of these efforts.

“Operation Rice Bowl is simply a way to live out that call actively and remain concerned throughout Lent for our less-fortunate neighbors locally and globally,” said Beth Martin, program officer for Operation Rice Bowl.

The program began in the Diocese of Allentown, Pa., in 1975. It became an outreach program of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops the next year, quickly expanding into nearly every diocese and parish in the United States.

Last year Operation Rice Bowl raised $8 million for services that ease the suffering associated with poverty oversees and in the United States. Despite a three-year downturn in the U.S. economy, Catholic Relief Services officials reported a 13% increase in donations in the past five years.

Of the money collected, 25% stays in the respective dioceses for services to the poor. About 75% is distributed outside the United States. Up to 12% of the total amount collected is used to fund Catholic Relief Services administrative costs.

Although recipients of the donations glean obvious benefits — such as food, clothing and medical care — Catholic Relief Services officials insist the program is as much a way to help those who give as it is those who receive.

“This helps enrich the spiritual journeys of Catholics during Lent,” Martin said. “In a very practical way, it enables you to connect with the world around you and have a better spiritual and prayer journey.”

Cecile Sorra, a Catholic Relief Services spokeswoman, said Lent materials are intended to make daily acts of giving educational and fun. Most parishes in the United States give parishioners the organization's Lent calendars, which offer daily Scripture passages, stories of needy around the world and suggestions for giving.

This year's calendar, for example, tells Catholics on March 2 that 26 million Pakistanis suffer from hunger. It recommends prayers for them — and 26 cents into the rice bowl. Another calendar entry says 62% of people in Burundi are unable to attend school. The gift suggestion: 62 cents.

The calendar also gives Catholics meatless and meaningful recipes for Fridays during Lent.

“These are simple meals that represent traditions around the world,” Martin said. “You can use these recipes, skip the pizza or going out to dinner on Friday night and donate the money you save to the rice bowl.”

Catholic Relief Services officials expect to distribute about 4.6 million rice bowls in time for Lent and anticipate up to 12 million Catholics will participate. That includes people in 14,600 Catholic schools, parishes, religious orders and other Catholic organizations.

Wayne Laugesen writes from Boulder, Colorado.