Tbe annual Catholic Relief Services Collection will be taken up in parishes of the Diocese of Camden March 13-14. See letter from Bishop Joseph Galante, below:
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
The Catholic Relief Services Collection will be taken up in parishes of the Diocese of Camden during the weekend of March 13-14. The official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic Church in the United States, CRS alleviates suffering and provides assistance to people in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality.
In areas devastated by natural disasters and wars, CRS is often among the first on the ground providing water, food, shelter, protection from abuses and other basic needs, while working for peaceful resolution of conflicts. CRS, for example, has provided food to more than 500,000 men, women and children displaced by the recent earthquake in Haiti. CRS distributed emergency shelter kits – waterproof sheeting, lumber and nails – to more than 40,000 Haitians who have been living under sheets and other materials that will be useless with the coming rainy season. CRS has also set up teams of doctors, nurses and practitioners to run nine health sites across the capital city, some in informal camps, others in clinics. Meanwhile, CRS workers in Haiti are working on sanitation concerns, improving access to clean water, and providing sound hygiene education to schools and health centers.
In addition to responding to major emergencies, CRS around the globe works to fight hunger, disease and poverty, improve education and health care, and to nurture peaceful and just societies.
Given the great needs here at home and around the world, I ask you to give generously to the Catholic Relief Services Collection and to pray for all those who are served by the appeal.
Fraternally,
Most Reverend Joseph A. Galante, D.D., J.C.D.
Bishop of Camden