Thousands of free meals later, agency and volunteers still fighting pandemic-related hunger
Lizanne Hagedorn, executive director of archdiocesan Nutritional Development Services, displays a bag of fresh apples during an April 24 food distribution at Holy Innocents Parish in Philadelphia, the tenth such giveaway hosted by the agency since October 2020. (Gina Christian)
By Gina Christian • Posted April 27, 2021
With the pandemic well past the one-year mark, an archdiocesan agency has just completed its 10th food giveaway, thanks to a dedicated team of staff and volunteers.
Last Saturday, dozens of Nutritional Development Services (NDS) employees and supporters gathered at Holy Innocents Parish in Philadelphia to distribute more than 430 federally funded meal boxes. Sponsored by the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farmers to Family program, the packages contained fresh produce, meats and dairy products.
(Edwin José Vega Ramos/Pexels)
By Gina Christian • Posted February 24, 2021
An annual food collection is looking to replenish a crucial network of community food cupboards that have seen “a continued increase” in clients.
Sponsored by archdiocesan Nutritional Development Services (NDS), the Lenten One-Can Meal Food Drive, provides both in-person and online donation options available from now through March 30.
As in previous years, the agency will partner with schools throughout the archdiocese to gather canned meats, soups and beans.
Participants can also select items on the YouGiveGoods platform for purchase and delivery to NDS.
For close to 50 years, the agency has been countering hunger in the five-county archdiocesan area by operating federally funded child nutrition programs and a privately supported network of food cupboards.
Rice Bowl makes family table an ‘altar’ of service, says founder
In this undated photo, Msgr. Robert Coll, creator of the Rice Bowl Lenten initiative, speaks with youth during a Catholic Relief Services mission to African nations. Msgr. Coll started Rice Bowl in 1975 as a means of countering hunger while deepening campaign participants’ faith. (Photo courtesy of Al and Camille St. Pierre)
By Gina Christian • Posted February 16, 2021
A nationwide Lenten tradition traces its roots to the Philadelphia area – and to a priest who wanted to make the family dining room table an “altar” of sacrifice and service.
Now in its 46th year, Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) Rice Bowl initiative combines prayer, fasting and almsgiving to help those in need both in the U.S. and abroad. During Lent participants donate to the campaign by contributing money they save through fasting or preparing meatless meals like those eaten in impoverished nations.
Food giveaway draws crowds in ‘moment of evangelization’
A staff member from archdiocesan Nutritional Development Services (NDS) distributes food packages during a Feb. 6 giveaway at Holy Innocents Parish in Philadelphia, one of several such events the agency has hosted in response to rising COVID-related food insecurity. (Gina Christian)
By Gina Christian • Posted February 12, 2021
Hundreds of families lined the streets surrounding a Philadelphia parish last weekend to receive urgently needed food assistance.
“We are seeing more and more of a need, not less,” said dietician Jean Falk of archdiocesan Nutritional Development Services (NDS). “Our numbers (of clients) are just increasing.”
Falk joined dozens of coworkers and volunteers for a Feb. 6 food distribution at Holy Innocents Parish in the city’s Juniata Park section. The drive-through and walk-up event, one of several organized by the agency in recent months, provided some 1,000 boxes of produce, meat and
Rice Bowl is ‘simple genius’ of the Gospel, says bishop
A Rice Bowl container is displayed alongside a basket of food at the Feb. 4 launch of the 46th annual Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl campaign in the Philadelphia Archdiocese. The nationwide Lenten initiative benefits millions in both the U.S. and in more than 100 countries. (Gina Christian)
By Gina Christian • Posted February 8, 2021
A longtime Lenten tradition represents “the Gospel of the Lord Jesus in a bowl,” said a Philadelphia bishop.
On Feb. 4, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia launched its 46th annual Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) Rice Bowl initiative. The nationwide program, which runs from Ash Wednesday (Feb. 17) through Holy Saturday (April 3), combines prayer, fasting and almsgiving to help those in need both in the U.S. and abroad.