Ongoing Food Staples Collection

Each month, the committee is supporting an Ongoing Food Staples Collection. A collection is held the first weekend of each month and is donated to the Collinwood Food Bank. Please consider contributing all or part of the food needed for a family of any size.

But even little changes can make a big difference. And when we work together, each small effort can help to turn the tide. The stories in Portraits of Hope are great examples of how we can find permanent solutions to poverty. Please visit Catholic Campaign for Human Development Poverty in America website for more information.

You can help:

1. Learn more!

Do you know who’s affected by poverty? Or what it’s like to make the tough choices that living in poverty demands? Take the poverty tour for a better understanding.

2. Connect with us:

Our next meeting will be January 15, 2008 at 7 pm in the Hospitality Room. All are welcome!

Please Help Save Darfur!

Nearly three years in crisis, the western Sudanese region of Darfur is acknowledged to be a humanitarian and human rights tragedy of the first order. The humanitarian, security and political situation continue to deteriorate: atrocities continue, people are still dying in large numbers of malnutrition and disease, and a new famine is feared. According to reports by the World Food Program, the United Nations and the Coalition for International Justice, 3.5 million people are now hungry, 2.5 million have been displaced due to violence, and 400,000 people have died in Darfur thus far. The international community is failing to protect civilians or to influence the Sudanese government to do so.

For more information, please visit the following:

Want to learn more about Social Justice issues?

Salt of the Earth is an excellent resource!  For example, you can find monthly reports on different issues:

February 2006: Thousands flee mounting violence in south Darfur

January 2006: Report tracks declining value of minimum wage

December 2005: Annual 'Hunger Report' shows poor families cannot afford nutritious food

Another excellent source is the Catholic Relief Services website. Click on the "Get Involved" link.

Want to learn more about Catholic Social Teaching?

The social justice teaching of the Catholic Church is rooted in Holy Scripture, which calls the people of God to lives of justice and mercy, compassion and hope, solidarity and peace. Over the centuries, in response to changing conditions and situations, the magisterium (i.e., the teaching authority of the Church -- the bishops, popes, and councils) have responded to the ever-new, yet ever-the-same, circumstances of the human condition with prayer and reflection which has produced ever more detailed doctrine.

There are ten principles that highlight major themes from Catholic social teaching documents of the last century.

"Far too many Catholics are not familiar with the basic content of Catholic social teaching. More fundamentally, many Catholics do not adequately understand that the social teaching of the Church is an essential part of Catholic faith.  This poses a serious challenge for all Catholics  since it weakens our capacity to be a Church that is true to the demands of the Gospel. We need to do more to share the social mission and message of our Church." U.S. Bishop

Want to contact your legislators?

Office of the Governor: Bob Taft

Ohio House:

Ohio Senate: Tim Grendell

United States House of Representatives: Steven LaTourette

United States Senate:

"If you want peace, work for justice" - Pope Paul VI.