Conflict and drought are threatening more than 20 million people in four countries with the prospect of famine, and the U.N. has called this food crisis the largest humanitarian crisis since the world body was formed more than 70 years ago.
If you would like to help by donating to the organizations that offer food support to people in South Sudan, northeast Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen, you may contact any of these Catholic groups:
Inside the United States:
Catholic Relief Services: Online: donate.crs.org, and make a special request for the “Africa Hunger Crisis”; or call 877-HELP-CRS; or mail Africa Hunger Crisis, Catholic Relief Services, P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, MD 21203-7190.
Missio: Online: missio.org/project/2452 and donate to the “South Sudan” project or missio.org/project/1158 and donate to the “Food Security in Nigeria” project.
Aid to the Church in Need: Mail donations to Aid to the Church in Need, 725 Leonard Street, P.O. Box 220384, Brooklyn, NY, 11222, or call 800-628-6333 and specify “suffering widows and orphans in Nigeria,” both in the mail and over the phone.
Cross Catholic Outreach: Online: at http://www.crosscatholic.org/donate contributing to “Africa”; or mail Cross Catholic Outreach, 2700 N. Military Trail, Suite 240, PO Box 273908, Boca Raton, Florida, 33427.
Outside the United States:
Caritas Internationalis:
Australia: caritas.org.au, click on the donate now button and select “East Africa Food Crisis Appeal.”
Canada: devp.org click on the give now button and select “Food Crisis 2017.”
New Zealand: caritas.org.nz, click on Donate Now and select that funds be allocated to “East Africa Crisis Appeal”; or call 0800 22 10 22; or mail Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand, Freepost 689, P.O. Box 12193, Thorndon Wellington 6144.
England and Wales: cafod.org.uk, select the donate button and then “East Africa Crisis Appeal” or “Yemen Appeal”; or call 0303 303 3030; or mail Catholic Agency For Overseas Development, Romero House, 55 Westminster Bridge Road, SE1 7JB.
Ireland: trocaire.org, click on the East Africa “How you can help” tab to donate; or call 1850 408 408 (Ireland), 0800 912 1200 (United Kingdom).
Germany: malteser-international.org/en/help-and-donate/donate-now/give-a-donation.html?L=0&neues-spendenformular-2319/spendeor and donate to the “Drought and Hunger in Africa” project; or call +49-(0)221-9822-152.
By Josephine von Dohlen / Catholic News Service
Watch www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcw6iI0Cpuc&feature=youtu.be, as a moral theologian discusses whether Catholics have a religious obligation to help nourish Africans and Middle Easterners hit hard by food insecurity.
Top image, CNS photo/Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services: Women carry bags of sorghum and split yellow peas in Pajut, South Sudan, March 17. Up to 20 million people in South Sudan, Yemen, Somalia and northeast Nigeria face the prospect of famine this year.
