Rice Bowl helps fight hunger in rural Utah

Intermountain Catholic

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CCD kids at Saint Elizabeth Parish played musical chairs during their Christmas party on Dec. 18. About 30 children ranging from kindergarten to high school age are enrolled in the CCD program, and they planned the party.

SALT LAKE CITY – The pennies, nickels, dimes and dollars placed into the Lenten Rice Bowl collection have translated to food baskets for the needy in Saint Helen Parish in Roosevelt and Saint Jude Mission in Ephraim, hot soup for the hungry at Saint Pius X Parish in Moab, and contributions to the Utah County Food Bank from San Andres Parish in Payson – just a few of the Utah parishes to receive help from the Rice Bowl collection.

Each Lent, the Diocese of Salt Lake City participates in Catholic Relief Services’ Operation Rice Bowl. While the bulk of the money is sent to CRS to fund programs to increase food security worldwide, 25 percent stays in Utah. The diocese recently distributed $16,000 to Catholic Community Services, the Utah Food Bank and a number of parishes, said Deacon Silvio Mayo, the diocesan chancellor.

While $400 may not seem like much to some, the amount looms large in the budgets at Saint Helen Parish in Roosevelt and its two mission parishes, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha in Ft. Duchesne and Holy Spirit in Duchesne, which serve about 53 families, said Father Albert Kileo, the pastor. "The Rice Bowl helps a lot, especially to pay for some of the costs, especially in our missions," he said.

In addition to providing food baskets for "some of the very poor people who don’t have anything for Christmas," the money is used for minor building repairs that otherwise would have to come out of the parish budget, which is tight, particularly with the current economy, he said.

Similarly, Father Richard Sherman, pastor of St. Elizabeth Parish in Central Valley and St. Jude Mission in Ephraim, used some Rice Bowl funds to pay for food baskets and Sub for Santa gifts for some of his neediest parishioners. However, the bulk of the $400 will go the food bank in town, which has seen a substantial increase in the number of people "who are not working, or they’re working less hours," he said.

As with St. Helen Parish, the $400 from the Rice Bowl distribution figures significantly in Fr. Sherman’s finances. "We’re pretty low-budget out here at both parishes," just making expenses each month, he said. The big moneymaker every year is two yard sales organized by the ladies’ group, which brings in up to 20 percent of St. Elizabeth Parish’s yearly income, he said.

Contributions from the Rice Bowl collection to the Utah County Food Bank in Provo is the most efficient way to reach needy people in San Andres Parish, which serves about 259 families in eight small cities in southern Utah County, said Jesuit Father Joseph Rooney, pastor. In addition, "we always have some funds set aside for an active parishioner who may hit a temporary hard problem," he said. Without the Rice Bowl distribution, "it would mean much less would be passed on to the food bank," he added.

Funds from the Rice Bowl distribution also will help feed the hungry in Moab’s Saint Pius X Parish, but in a unique way. The money will be used to continue the Hope Garden project, which was started this year by parishioner Kristina Cassidy.

The garden, planted on donated land with donated seeds and other supplies, grew almost 1,000 pounds of fruit and vegetables, which were distributed to the needy in the community, Fr. William Wheaton said. "We’ve got a lot who live below the poverty line," he said. "There’s a need in the community as a whole, especially those who live in these rundown trailers and who live literally in poverty, who barely have enough to make ends meet. Sometimes they’re elderly, sometimes they’re families. There’s just a tremendous need."

The gift of the garden went beyond the produce. One of the parishioners regularly made soup from the garden’s vegetables and took it to an elderly couple, who "looked forward to getting their soup; not only was it the soup, but it was the visits that she made to see them," said Fr. Wheaton, St. Pius X pastor.

With this year’s Rice Bowl money, the parish will expand the Hope Garden project, not only to provide more fresh fruits and vegetables, but also having parishioners do more outreach, Fr. Wheaton said. "It fills such a need in this community, more so than if you just donated a bag of canned food," he said. "It means a lot. Anybody can go out and buy a bag of food and give it to a food bank, but there’s something to be said for when you personally prepare the food, when you prepare the soup, when you pick the vegetables, when you take it to the family. That has a lot different meaning than just going out and buying the food, or even writing a check to help people who are poor, because you’re personally involved in that whole process. You see the face of the poor when you’re involved."