Delivering food, shelter, and hope to the poorest of the poor
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Fight World Hunger
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Your support can provide nutritious meals to hungry children around the world!
Feed the Hungry and Share Christ’s Love
An estimated 828 million people around the world will go to bed hungry tonight. And out of this tragic number, 258 million people are now suffering from acute food insecurity, making this the fourth consecutive year that this number has increased.
In response to this global hunger crisis, Cross Catholic Outreach is eager to support and supply food to ministries feeding the poor in developing countries like the Dominican Republic. There, our in-country partner, FUNDASEP, the outreach arm of the Diocese of San Juan de la Managua, is working hard to address the spiritual and material needs of poor Dominican families.
Your support will empower this important outreach and can also help other Church-based programs delivering life-sustaining food to communities with extreme needs. Last year, we were able to deliver 25.9 million meals to hungry families around the world, and we are confident even more can be done in the year ahead!
Please, give generously to fuel this critical work. It will lift children and families out of hunger through outreaches created to nourish needy communities physically, emotionally and spiritually. Christ called his followers to carry his love and mercy to the far corners of the globe, so seize this opportunity and join us in this incredible mission of mercy.
Cross Catholic Outreach was recently featured on “EWTN News In Depth.” Watch the video to be inspired by the Church's work in the Dominican Republic!
The Dominican Republic’s Need
A Country in Need of Hope
In the Dominican Republic, 40% of the population lives in poverty, and 10% lives in the kind of extreme poverty that leads to malnourishment and hopelessness. The area’s poorest men and women try to survive through subsistence farming and work hard to put food on the table, but they often fail to meet their family’s nutritional needs. It’s estimated that one-third of the Dominican Republic’s families are food insecure and 61% of babies between the ages of 6 and 11 months suffer from anemia.
When children don’t have their basic nutritional needs met, brain development can be impaired, impacting their health and educational outcomes for years to come. Fortunately, hunger can be overcome if enough of us — inspired by the Corporal Work of Mercy’s mandate to feed the hungry — will work together to provide nutritional support to these families in need.
With your support, Cross Catholic Outreach can partner with ministries like FUNDASEP to dramatically reduce hunger among the poor and marginalized in their community. Meeting basic nutritional needs is the first step in transforming families and communities. Please — help us feed the hungry worldwide!
*Sources: World Bank, UNICEF, U.N., World Food Programme
Highlighted Partner
FUNDASEP
Founded in 1992, FUNDASEP, the outreach arm of the Diocese of San Juan de la Maguana, offers the love of Christ to families in need in the Dominican Republic. FUNDASEP was founded by the “Backpack Bishop,” José Grullón Estrella, to meet the deepest material and spiritual needs of the poorest families. FUNDASEP has been a trusted partner of Cross Catholic Outreach since 2005, partnering with the ministry to bring food, water, safe housing, agriculture and microenterprise opportunities to transform communities.
“The mission of Christ is to evangelize, to share the Gospel,” Bishop Grullón, now retired, once said.
FUNDASEP and Cross Catholic Outreach share a similar vision — meeting material and spiritual needs to glorify the name of Jesus Christ. When you join us to provide food for the hungry, you will empower the Church in the Dominican Republic and around the world to fill stomachs while sharing the love of God.
Fill Empty Stomachs
Follow Jesus’ Command to Feed the Hungry
Ministry partners such as FUNDASEP have the heart and knowledge to bless the families in their regions — but they often lack the resources to meet the extreme need. That’s where you come in. When you donate to relieve world hunger through Cross Catholic Outreach, you strengthen Catholic ministries in developing nations in two important ways:
Feeding Programs
Financial support helps our ministry partners purchase resources, facilitate feeding programs and distribute food to remote communities. Fund critical feeding ministries in Christ’s name!
Vitafood
Nutrient-rich Vitafood is specially formulated to meet the needs of the malnourished. Cover shipping costs to help these hearty meal packs reach the hungry!
Jose Muno’s family depends on Vitafood provided by compassionate Catholics like you.
Meet the Beneficiaries
Learn More About Lives Impacted by Your Gift
Feeding Vulnerable Families
Seven-year-old Jose Angel Muño clings to his father’s arm outside his family’s deteriorating, one-room house in a rural corner of the Dominican Republic.
Jose is there to guide his father, Juachin, who is almost completely blind. His 9-year-old sister, Jareldi, also bears the responsibility of guiding their father through daily life. Both children had to grow up fast after their mother passed away, leaving them in the care of a parent whose disability limits his ability to provide for the family.
Even though their circumstances are difficult, Jose and Jereidi are optimistic about the future. For one, their house sits on enough land to cultivate a decent garden. Another positive is that they live next door to the elementary school.
Jose’s favorite class is Spanish; Jereidi’s is math. Like many Dominican boys, Jose dreams of becoming a professional baseball player, while his sister has a more practical ambition: finish school and become a doctor. Still, it’s hard to plan for the future because they struggle to put food on the table today.
Your support will help parents like Juachin put food on the table for his children. With daily meals, children like Jose and Jereidi will have the fuel to complete their education and achieve their dreams.
Help a Mom Feed Her Babies
Aribeli Rosso is raising two young children. It’s a challenge complicated by the fact that her husband lives and works in the capital city — Santo Domingo — because it is the best place to find jobs. It is a long way for him to travel just to work at a convenience store, she admits, but it’s necessary because there is nothing better for him in the rural community they call home.
When asked whether she is getting enough to eat, Aribeli describes the food situation as “complicated.” She says she gives what she can to her children, 4-year-old Albert and 1-year-old Shelanny. She tries to make use of the mangoes and plantains that grow on her land, but she isn’t really a farmer so her options to live off the land are limited.
Your support will help mothers like Aribeli in the Dominican Republic and around the world provide nutritious food for their babies. It only takes 15 cents to provide a meal that will give a mom like Aribeli peace of mind!
Download the Proposal
Media Resources
For media inquiries, contact Kevin Wandra at kwandra@carmelcommunications.com
Clink the links below to download material
Michele Sagarino
President, Cross Catholic Outreach
Michele Sagarino has nearly three decades of experience in nonprofit leadership. After graduating from the University of Maryland, Michele answered the call on her life to begin service for various charitable organizations, including the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Gateway Community Outreach, and Food For The Poor. In 2004, she joined Cross Catholic Outreach, where she served as vice president for development for 15 years. Throughout her tenure, Michele has been an instrumental leader within the organization, utilizing her expertise and demonstrating her unwavering commitment to service. Her exceptional leadership, combined with her compassionate heart, will guide Cross Catholic Outreach forward with wisdom and integrity, empowering the organization and its donors to positively impact even more lives.
What Is Your Legacy Mission?
When you include Cross Catholic Outreach as a beneficiary in your will, trust, retirement account or life insurance policy, you will make a difference for poor communities by meeting both material and spiritual needs for generations to come. Create Your Legacy!