Do you have a “rice bowl” sitting on your table right now?
The Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Rice Bowl Lenten fundraiser is a common sight in Catholic homes this time of year.
CRS Rice Bowl is the Lenten program of Catholic Relief Services, the official relief and development agency of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Their well-known Rice Bowl is a small cardboard box used to collect Lenten alms. It comes with a Lenten calendar that guides families throughout the 40 days of Lent with activities, reflections, stories and opportunities to put alms in their Rice Bowl.
Since the Rice Bowl program began way back in 1975, it has raised more than $350 million through the simple habit of collecting coins. These alms support the work of CRS in more than 130 different countries, funding humanitarian programs like the following:
- Agriculture projects help farmers improve harvests
- Water and sanitation projects bring clean water to communities
- Microfinance projects support small businesses
- Mother and child health projects offer health and nutrition services
- Education projects provide resources and training
Twenty-five percent of donations stay in the local diocese, supporting efforts to alleviate hunger and poverty.
Recipes from around the world
While the Rice Bowl can be found in Catholic homes across the U.S., you may not know that CRS also offers recipes from around the world, many of them popular in countries where CRS serves.
You can experience the culture of our sisters and brothers around the world by using these Lenten recipes for your meatless meals.
CRS suggests giving the money you save by abstaining from meat and eating a simple meal to your Rice Bowl to help the global family overcome hunger.
Some of the recipes to try include the following:
- Red red bean stew from Ghana
- Tostadas from Guatemala
- Batar Da’An from Timor Leste
- West African Peanut Stew from Niger
- Dahl from Bangladesh
Many of the recipes are simple and the pictures accompanying each dish give you a mouth-watering idea of what you'll soon be enjoying.
If you’re looking for a few other tasty meatless options, don’t miss Aleteia’s collection of meatless Lenten recipes and Jana Zuniga’s Instagram curation of recipes that are “protein forward, gluten friendly, and prep in 15 minutes.”
