Delivering food, shelter, and hope to the poorest of the poor
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Have fun, deepen faith, and feed the hungry like these volunteers at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Ashburn, Virginia.
Want to make a difference in a single afternoon or over the course of a weekend? Volunteering at a Cross Catholic Outreach food packing event empowers Catholic ministry partners to protect the world’s most vulnerable kids and families from malnutrition. Volunteers work in assembly lines to pack beans, soy, rice, dehydrated vegetables and vitamin packets. This faith-in-action service project unites community and family members, with jobs for all ages and abilities!
A group of 150 volunteers can pack 50,000 Vitafood meals in just 4 hours.
Don’t see an event near you? Learn how to bring a food packing event to your area.
Vitafood is a protein-rich food product scientifically formulated with key vitamins and nutrients to energize, strengthen and improve the health of malnourished children and families. The fortified rice, potato or lentil base, a protein (usually soy or beans) are designed to help restore the health of malnourished children and provide a reliable source of food to orphanages, schools and hungry families. Meals are sealed in airtight packets to prolong shelf life and maximize the number of meals shipped in each container.
Cross Catholic Outreach ministry partners rely on shipments of Vitafood to feed hundreds of thousands of meals to hungry children and families in poverty-stricken areas such as Guatemala, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. For just 33 cents per meal, Cross Catholic can cost-effectively purchase and ship Vitafood meals hand-packed by you!
Everyone! Invite your family, friends and colleagues to join you. Collaborate with other local parishes, schools and organizations to start a community-wide movement. Come together as the Body of Christ to change the world!
An event will pack a minimum of 50,000 meals, at a cost of 33 cents per meal, for a total cost of $16,500. The more money you raise, the more meals that can be delivered to malnourished children around the world. If you want to dream big, 285,120 meals can be shipped for $85,536. Think of the impact!
We encourage you to raise awareness about world hunger throughout your community. You can inspire local involvement by soliciting corporate and individual sponsorships. Change our world by raising funds through a variety of fun activities, including car washes, bake sales, auctions and so much more!
A few days before the event, the supplies will be delivered to your venue. Setup typically occurs the day or evening before a packing day. Cross Catholic Outreach will have one to two representatives on site on the day of the event to assist with everything from setup through cleanup. The typical food packing event begins around 8 to 9 a.m. and finishes between noon and 4 p.m. depending on the size of the event. Post-event cleanup usually takes about an hour, and the venue will be as good as if not cleaner than before!
The number of hungry people in the world has soared since 2020. Learn how U.S. Catholics are helping fight the hunger crisis in Haiti and other nations in need.
Cross Catholic Outreach friends empowered Guatemalan families in the Diocese of Suchitepéquez-Retalhuleu through practical and spiritual support.
Every day, nearly 811 million people don’t get enough food to sustain their bodies. Learn how Cross Catholic Outreach is helping those in need here.