Page 12 - Nutritional Development Services News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Volunteer hours during COVID add up to thousands of reasons for hope Volunteers sort non-perishable items at archdiocesan Catholic Social Services' Southwest Family Service Center, June 11. (Photo courtesy of Samuel Abu) By Gina Christian • Posted April 26, 2021 As the pandemic passes the one-year mark, many are taking stock of COVID’s impact to date – and for one archdiocesan agency, some of that data adds up to thousands of reasons for hope. To wrap up National Volunteer Week (April 18-24), Catholic Human Services (CHS) honored 25 “partners in mission” with an April 23 online ce...

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, doz...

(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 YouGiveGo...

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�...

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 F...