Catholic charities are a network of numerous independent, local Catholic charities organizations. These charities provide hope and assistance to people from many religious, social and economic backgrounds.
In 2000, Catholic charities touched the lives of more than 9 million people. The charities provided emergency food and shelter, day care, adoptions and refugee settlements. Catholic charity groups collectively receive more than 2.69 billion dollars per year. Their expenditures exceed 2.58 billion dollars.
Catholic charity organizations receive funding from numerous organizations. They receive a hefty portion from local, state and national government grants and contracts. Another smaller portion comes from donations of private parties. These charities even make some investments with money they receive. The return on their investments is a small chunk of change the charities collect.
One of the greatest things these charities provide is emergency food and shelter to those in need, regardless of faith, ethnicity, social status, color or sex. In 2000, Catholic religious charities helped more than 5.9 million people in need of emergency food and shelter. They offered cash assistance, clothing, utility bill help, temporary shelters and food through soup kitchens and food banks.
Millions of working families turn to these charities for assistance. Many of these families don’t make enough to provide the basic necessities of life. Many times low-income families have to decide whether to buy food for the kids or Daddy’s heart medicine. They have to decide to either fix the car or buy a coat for their son because he is freezing. Charities arrive in these situations and provide temporary assistance the individual or family needs.
Also in the year 2000, many people received social service help. Social services include everything from adoption and family support to parenting education and prison ministry. These Catholic social charities helped and continue to help individuals, families and communities gain strength to face the wiles of the world.
One of the greatest services religious charities supply is disaster relief. After the September 11th attacks, the charities offered immediate relief to the New York City and Washington D.C. communities. They set up facilities where food and water could be administered. They also gave emergency first-aid relief. The Catholic groups stayed in the areas for months offering this kind of assistance.
Over the last couple of decades, Catholic charity groups have experienced an increase in the number of people receiving assistance. In 1986, the number of people needing emergency food and shelter exceeded the number of people receiving social services. Currently, more than half of the people helped by Catholic charities need emergency food and shelter.
There are a number of Web sites that are networked to these charities. If you would like to volunteer or offer a donation, you can follow the directions you find on Web sites. The Web sites are easy to find, too. Simply type in the keyword “Catholic charities” into any search engine and you can find a link to practically any donation center in the United States. You will find instructions on who to contact and how to make a donation to the Catholic charities in your area.
By John Ivie