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Burkina Faso + 1 more

Helping Hands event sets goal of packing 200,000 meals at world meeting of families – Philadelphia 2015

by Anna Ruiz

Registration Open for 3,500 Volunteers

BALTIMORE, MD, July 28, 2015 – Attendees at the World Meeting of Families – Philadelphia 2015, are invited to join Helping Hands – a fun, multi-generational, meal-packing event that fights hunger and energizes people about the mission of ending global hunger. Created by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Stop Hunger Now, Helping Hands has set a goal of 200,000 meals to be packed over three days of the World Meeting of Families – Philadelphia 2015 Congress. Participants are invited to sign-up for one or more hour-long meal-packing shifts. Individuals or teams of people to pack meals can register online. The web address is: www.crs.org/HelpingHandsWMOF. Those registered and exhibiting at World Meeting of Families – Philadelphia 2015 such as families, groups of friends, alumni, religious orders, and diocesan groups are all encouraged to register.

The 200,000 meals, containing a special mixture of fortified food, will be shipped to the West African nation of Burkina Faso where an ongoing drought has created a hunger emergency for orphans, widows and people living in poverty. The international humanitarian aid agency, Catholic Relief Services, will use the food for people who are malnourished.

“We’re excited to bring this Helping Hands event to the World Meeting of Families – Philadelphia 2015. This is one way to live out the Holy Father’s call to go and serve people at the margins,” said Joan Rosenhauer, Executive Vice President of U.S. Operations for CRS. “CRS brings a high level of expertise and compassion to helping the world’s poorest people improve their lives. It’s the right of all families to thrive. Packing these fortified meals is a great way to put your faith in action on behalf of those who need our help.”

This Helping Hands meal packing event will take place in the Pennsylvania Convention Center at the rear of Exhibit Hall B. There, each shift of volunteers will receive a brief training on how the packaging stations operate and hear from special guest Thomas Awiapo, who will share his story of overcoming hunger as a boy in Ghana. Other guest speakers, videos, music and a ‘gong ringing’ Master of Ceremonies will keep the pace lively, informative and entertaining. Each packing session will last an hour and will complete 30,000 meals containing dehydrated rice/soy fortified with 21 essential vitamins and nutrients.

CRS and Stop Hunger Now have teamed up to build a movement in the United States to end world hunger. Both are faith-based nonprofit organizations that believe that feeding the hungry is a moral imperative for all people of faith. Both organizations understand “feeding the hungry” means providing food and lifesaving aid to the world’s most vulnerable people and applying expertise to help our neediest brothers and sisters to feed themselves.

Mary Beth Yount, Director of Content and Programming for World Meeting of Families 2105‘ says ‘Every service to others, and especially international service activities like Helping Hands, provides us a unique way to live out our faith, to shower love on our global community, and to grow together in unity and love.’

CRS is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the U.S. CRS’ mission is to help families in some of the most troubled parts of the world to have a better, healthier life.

CRS helps poor families thrive in more than 100 countries, focusing on the areas of health, agriculture, and emergency relief. CRS also helps families in the U.S. live out their Catholic faith. CRS also partners with other relief organizations to serve others around the world, answering Pope Francis’ call to “go to the margins.” CRS seeks to strengthen families and communities through its focus on integral human development of the whole person.

For more information about Helping Hands visit: helpinghands.crs.org/stop-hunger-now

The World Meeting of Families – Philadelphia 2015 is being hosted by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and sponsored by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Family. For more details on World Meeting of Families – Philadelphia 2015 and Pope Francis’ visit to the U.S., please go to

www.WorldMeeting2015.org.

Additional resources for journalists:

Visit crs.org/families for more information about how Catholic Relief Services supports families around the world.

Por Español: crsespanol.org/familias.

CRS Newswire for up-to-date information on CRS’ work and emergency relief as it happens.

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the U.S. The agency alleviates suffering and provides assistance to people in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion, or nationality. CRS’ relief and development works are accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV awareness, prevention, and intervention, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding. For more information, visit www.crs.org or www.crsespanol.org and follow Catholic Relief Services on social media: Facebook, Twitter at @CatholicRelief and @CRSnews, Google+, Pinterest and YouTube.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Susan Walters Catholic Relief Services 443-955-7103 susan.walters@crs.org

Tom Price Catholic Relief Services 410-951-7450 Cell 443-951-7245 tom.price@crs.org