By Priscilla Greear - Florida Catholic
Over 110 churches, schools and other groups in the Archdiocese of Miami participate in the 2025 Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl, a Lenten spiritual program to support and learn about CRS’s humanitarian projects in 121 countries.
MIAMI | Over at St. Bonaventure School in Davie, the student Faith and Action team is leading a weekly challenge to support Catholic Relief Services’ Rice Bowl, a spiritual Lenten program to support its life-giving humanitarian work with the world’s poorest people in 121 countries. CRS projects range from providing eggs and vital nutrients to malnourished families in Guatemala to teaching farmers regenerative agriculture to earn a living wage across Latin America.
Through daily morning announcements, posters and social media posts, St. Bonaventure team members invite students each week to sacrifice a designated treat, starting with ice cream and Starbucks. Those dollars saved go to students’ rice bowls. Team member Maria Helena Stadthagen said almsgiving deepens her Lent experience. “Let’s say after school on Friday you might get ice cream, but instead of taking the ice cream, you put the money inside the rice bowl,” said Stadthagen. “It’s important to participate in the Rice Bowl program because it helps us grow in our faith. I really like the Faith in Action making posters because I like art and it’s a way I can show my faith.”
Religion teacher Rosina Villavisanis said ORB beautifully incorporates the Lent pillars of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. For prayer, students might place their rice bowl by a cross or rosary at home and pray. “Almsgiving is giving to others in many different ways, whether that’s giving clothes, giving attention, or giving food or money,” she said. “We need to multiply those loaves and fishes and give to others in need like Christ did. Christ said in Matthew 25, ‘When you help the least of my brothers, you help me.’”
Photographer: COURTESY Oscar Leiva | Silverlight por CRS
Ana Belén Mulul Yat, 27, Fidelia Emily Joj Mulul, 4, José Evaristo Joj Osorio, 30, and Joseph Gael Joj Mulul, 1, are participants of Catholic Relief Services’ “Learning for Life” project in Guatemala. Ana receives 50 eggs every 15 days plus corn, beans, rice and vegetable oil rations in her children's school. Over 110 schools, churches and other groups in the Miami Archdiocese are participating in 2025 CRS Rice Bowl during Lent to benefit CRS' global humanitarian work.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski invites the faithful to enrich their Lenten experience and practice solidarity with the world’s most vulnerable through CRS Rice Bowl, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in the United States. And Catholic support is more lifesaving than ever: CRS has lost more than half of its total funding through the Donald Trump administration’s decimation of the federal U.S. Agency for International Development.
“Through our alms dropped into that cardboard rice bowl during the 40 days of Lent, we support through CRS families experiencing hunger through the world. Supporting our brothers and sisters in need, our Lent of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving through CRS Rice Bowl can help to change the lives of those who suffer in poverty. Make CRS’s Rice Bowl part of your Lenten observance this year,” said Archbishop Wenski in a video message.
In the archdiocese, 54 parishes, 35 schools/universities, and 12 other groups are participating this year. Peter Routsis-Arroyo, CEO of Catholic Charities of Miami, noted that 25 percent of CRS contributions support local charitable work. Additionally, parish collections for CRS are slated for March 30.
As the official relief and development agency of the U.S. Church, CRS helps people build long-term sustainability. “This is to help some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world who suffer through corruption, economic instability, violence. And the work of CRS goes a long way in helping them to establish systems in place, whether that’s irrigation, water, planting, whatever is unique to that country and those needs,” said Arroyo. “And, of course, the more stable they are, that helps them to not need to migrate and addresses the root causes of poverty.”
Catholic Charities of Miami partners with CRS, whether for hurricane relief or with long-term aid in Cuba and Haiti. “Being the gateway to the Caribbean and having someone like Archbishop Wenski who is both nationally and internationally known, we’ve always been looked upon to help in terms of disasters,” he added.
Photographer: COURTESY Oscar Leiva | Silverlight por CRS
Guatemalans Ana Belén Mulul Yat, 27 and his children Joseph Gael, 1, and Fidelia Emily Joj Mulul, 4, are seen outside their small adobe house. The family receives nutritious food at school from Catholic Relief Services. Over 110 schools, churches and other groups in the Miami Archdiocese are participating in CRS Rice Bowl during Lent to benefit its projects in over 120 countries including Guatemala.
Bill O’Keefe, CRS executive vice president for mission mobilization and advocacy, said it’s a “very exciting” 50th anniversary year, as ORB grew out of the 41st Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia in 1975 to address famine in Africa. “We just had a Eucharistic Revival in the United States last summer and it is a great time for all of us Catholics to think about the Eucharist and its connection between feeding of our own spirit and the responsibility that we have to go out into the world and feed those who are hungry.”
It’s also a critical year as “we are having to cut about 50 percent of our total budget” due to a 2025 freeze in government foreign aid, which has resulted in layoffs of more than 2,000 CRS staff members. “It’s terrible…We’re hoping the U.S. will change its approach, but in the meantime, as Catholics, we can step into this gap and show our support for our brothers and sisters around the world,” O’Keefe said, while global hunger has risen by 152 million since 2019. “Ultimately, 22 million people are not benefitting from critical lifesaving and life-giving services, and also it’s having an impact on the global Church’s ability to respond to those needs as our faith calls us to do.”
The ORB website features downloadable devotional calendar, a DIY rice bowl label, plus weekly educational articles and videos focused on projects in Guatemala, Nigeria and Bangladesh. Families can whip up tasty, inexpensive Lenten recipes from countries where CRS works, from dahl to ground nut stew, and donate the money saved.
O’Keefe highlighted one of highest impact programs in Latin America to train farmers in more efficient techniques to preserve water and soil amidst environmental degradation and to grow more food “to be able to feed their families and have extra to sell in the market and pay school fees.” A program in Guatemala provides free healthy food to families who enroll their children in school. “Guatemala has one of the highest malnutrition rates (over 50 percent) in Central America, so school feeding is really important for the health of the children and their ability to learn and the ability of parents to make the choice to send their kids to school,” said O’Keefe.
Photographer: ROCIO GRANADOS | FC
Pictured is a Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl coin box used to raise funds for the U.S. Church agency's work in 121 countries. Over 110 churches, schools and other groups in the Archdiocese of Miami now participate in the 2025 CRS Rice Bowl, a Lenten spiritual program to support and learn about CRS’s humanitarian projects.
Jim Rigg, superintendent of archdiocesan Catholic schools, stressed the educational value of Rice Bowl to connect students with other countries. “This program builds empathy, global awareness and an understanding of the Church’s commitment to serve all people, particularly those in most need.”
At St. Bonaventure, principal Lisa Kempinski said through ORB “we try to teach them that everyone does their part, and then that allows the Church to help many people all over the world.”
It’s also Faith in Action for ministry member Victoria Gomez. The students place “posters around the school so that people can get engaged,” said Gomez.
Villavisanis recalls assembling a rice bowl herself as a little girl. “You look at images that are there and you know that there is more outside of our little bubble here in South Florida,” she said. “We’re very privileged. And we can make a difference in a big way or even a small way.”
Through CRS Rice Bowl, students gain perspective and consider how their simple sacrifice could provide a healthy meal or dignified clothing to someone else. “We really talk about Catholic social teaching all the time in everything we do, and they really understand that our impact as Catholics goes far beyond just reading the Bible, goes far beyond just going to Mass. It’s how we live our lives. It’s through our actions that they will know who we are.”
Support CRS Rice Bowl program
- Catholic Relief Services calls supporters to contact Congress to urge the Trump administration to stop and reverse the termination of thousands of active programs that provide critical health, food, education, and other humanitarian assistance to people facing hunger, religious persecution, and conflicts, and resume disbursement of Congressionally appropriated foreign assistance funds. Supporters can write to Congress through the crs.org website.
- To donate to Catholic Relief Service Rice Bowl program click this link.
