It is estimated that nearly one billion people in the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition. Hunger is an extreme form of poverty. About 24,000 people die daily from hunger or hunger related causes. Three-fourths of these deaths are children under the age of five. Most of these deaths are attributed, not to outright starvation, but to the diseases that attack vulnerable children whose bodies are weakened by hunger.
The four most common childhood illnesses are diarrhea, acute respiratory illness, malaria, and measles. Each of these illnesses are both preventable and treatable. Yet poverty interferes in parents' ability to access immunizations and medicine. Chronic under nourishment, coupled with insufficient treatment, greatly increases a child's risk of death.
Food Packets for the Poor
In 1975, the Missionaries of the Holy Family established the Food Packet Program. This initiative began as a means to feed First Communion students in Santiago, Chile, when they arrived for sacramental instructions. Many of these children did not have breakfast or dinner the previous day. Since its modest beginnings, the Food Packet Program has grown to help feed mission families around the world.
An average family in the missions earns less than $1.00 a day, which is drastically below the international poverty line of $1.90 per day. Your Food Packet donation of $21.00 will go far in relieving the pangs of hunger. It will provide enough food for two weeks for a family of four. The contents of a Food Packet are cheese, powdered milk, meat products, flour, rice, and canned food.
I was hungry, and you gave me food...
Your support gives the personal satisfaction that you are helping to spread God's love to those less fortunate. Your gift helps our missionaries help those whom they serve. Together, we unite as brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus Himself encourages us to embrace the poor. For example, read Matthew 25:31-46.
The power to do good deeds resides in each of us. By our words, our gifts, and our actions each day, we prove that goodness takes not strength of body, but of heart and soul. In addition to our Food Packet Program, we also accept donations to support our missionary priests, for scholarships for our seminary students, and for medicine and immunizations for children in our mission territories.
Will you partner with the work of our missionaries today?
You can make a gift ONLINE. Or...
Please print the SUPPORT FOR THE MISSIONS Form. The Food Packet Program is identified as Option C on the form. For donations for other programs, like medicine and immunizations for children in our mission territories, indicate this by selecting Option B. Then mail the completed form to us with your gift to God. May Our Father in Heaven reward you! +JMJ+