Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2008 / Local Rice Bowl grants help food pantries, other ministries
Local Rice Bowl grants help food pantries, other ministries
by Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published February 22, 2008
Detroit — When local Catholics take part in the annual Operation Rice Bowl, they not only assist the overseas work of Catholic Relief Services, but also fight hunger in their own community.
One-fourth of all funds collected through Operation Rice Bowl are retained locally and distributed to local programs that combat hunger.
Food pantries, soup kitchens and a crisis pregnancy center were among the 22 local programs receiving grants from the $70,000 local share of Operation Rice Bowl funds last year.
"Any help we can get helps us feed people," says Scott Cleven, assistant director of St. Patrick Center in Detroit's midtown area.
The center, on Parsons Street, in what used to be the Girls Catholic Central High School building, serves a hot meal to about 200 low-income seniors a day, some of them homeless.
"Many of these people here probably wouldn't have a nutritious meal if it weren't for us, and funding such as Rice Bowl grants helps make up for the reduction in funding from the state and some other sources," Cleven says.
At St. Dominic Outreach Center, on Lincoln just off West Warren near Trumbull in Detroit, its director, Sherron Jenkins, says Rice Bowl funds have been very helpful to its food pantry.
"Rice Bowl is a good funding source to have, especially today, with the economy down and donations down," she says.
"If it weren't for the Rice Bowl grants, I don't think many food pantries would survive, and we wouldn't be able to meet the needs of a lot of seniors and disabled persons," Jenkins continues.
The program, which most people participate in through their parish, involves a cardboard "rice bowl" placed on the dining table. Family members are encouraged to make daily contributions to aid the work of CRS and share with impoverished people locally and around the world.
Adding to the money in the rice bowl every day is a popular form of Lenten sacrifice for many families, and there are also devotional materials that accompany the program.
Most participants obtain Operation Rice Bowl materials from their parish, but those whose parish does not participate can get involved by signing up at www.crs.org/orb. At the Imago Dei Crisis Pregnancy Center in the former convent of St. Jude Parish in northeast Detroit, the Rice Bowl grant supports the Learn While You Earn program. Expectant mothers planning to keep their baby, and mothers of newborns, can earn "baby bucks" by attending parenting classes.
"They can use those baby bucks to 'shop' from our stock of baby clothes, maternity clothes, diapers and other baby supplies," explains Fay Autra, the center's director. "We also have baby formula, but usually we just give that away," she continues.
Expressing gratitude for the help provided by Operation Rice Bowl, Autra adds, "Everything we receive is a blessing for us."
Among other recipients of local Rice Bowl grants are parish and vicariate-run food pantries, soup kitchens and homeless warming centers in urban, suburban and rural areas of the archdiocese.
Lory McGlinnen, ORB coordinator for the archdiocese, says the number of people in crisis is increasing, while donations are decreasing.
"Rice Bowl funds provide necessary food, clothing and shelter to thousands of men, women and children," McGlinnen adds.
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