Local Grants Being Awarded Monday to Fight Poverty

Twenty-nine grants totaling $19,550 are being presented today as part of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. The collection is taken up nationwide each year on the week before Thanksgiving and 25% of the donations are used for local organizations who are working to combat poverty and the root causes of poverty in America. Last year's collection was higher than recent years and resulted in larger grants this year ranging from $200 to $1,000. The grants are being presented by Most Reverend Robert J. McManus, Bishop of Worcester, on behalf of the local CCHD committee at a ceremony on Monday, October 30 at 1 pm at Clark University LEEP Student Engagement Center, 931Main Street, Worcester, in SECOND FLOOR CONFERENCE CENTER.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development is the domestic anti-poverty program of the U.S. Catholic Bishops, working to carry out the mission of Jesus Christ "... to bring good news to the poor ... release to captives ... sight to the blind, and let the oppressed go free." (Luke 4:18)

$1,000 grants are being awarded to Refugee Artisans of Worcester, Pernet Family Health Service in Worcester; Mary Queen of the Rosary Parish Wellness Fund in Spencer; Visitation House; St. Peter Parish ESL program, St. Peter Parish youth mentoring Program; Marie Anne Center ESL program; St. Bernard Gym in Worcester at Our Lady of Providence Parish; Southbridge Senior Citizens Latino Group; Our Neighbor's Kitchen at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Winchendon; and Diocese of Worcester Prison Ministry.

$800 grants are being awarded to St. Anne Food Pantry in Shrewsbury; Urban Missionaries of Our Lady of Hope in Worcester; Blessed Sacrament Parish, Worcester; Catholic Charities Wheels for Change program in Southbridge.

$450 grants are being awarded to Cathedral of St. Paul Food Pantry in Worcester; St. James Parish Outreach ministry in South Grafton; Our Lady of Providence Food Pantry in Worcester; Catholic Charities Seasonal Solutions in Whitinsville; Catholic Charities Emergency Stabilization Program in Leominster; St. Patrick Parish in Whitinsville for the John 21 Community Breakfast Program; St. Vincent de Paul Societies in Uxbridge, and Park Avenue and Cambridge Street in Worcester.

$300 grants are being awarded to Dismas House Hunger Relief; Marie Anne Center for Teen Talk in Worcester; and St. Louis Parish for the Thanksgiving meal in Webster.

$200 grants are being given to St. Louis Parish for their Intergenerational 30-hour Famine