Go to the audioslide show and  listen to Sister Veronica Weygand speak about Neighbors in Need.

By Jennifer Fleming and Sister Jackie Griffith, ssj
An older woman with a husband who is bed-ridden comes to Neighbors in Need in Albany every couple of months. In addition to sheets, bed protectors and other adult needs, Sister Veronica Weygand, the director, hands her a bag of food. Mrs. Smith cries and hugs her saying, “God bless you for being so good to us.”
A recently released prisoner who has done his time comes to the soup kitchen at Saint Clare’s Center in Albany every day. He is homeless and stays in an abandoned house close by. As he speaks with Sisters Maura Molloy, director of Saint Clare’s, and Veronica, he lays his head on the table, crying, “It’s just so hard.” In addition to the meal he was served, they give him a little food to take with him for the rest of the day.
Sister Janet Roddy, the director of Catholic Social Services in Augusta, says “the January chill and the generosity of a good friend inspired a new hospitality initiative: coffee, tea, cocoa, and cookies while you wait to be served. Happily, a few grateful clients return to thank us again—and get another hot drink!” The staff in Augusta provides groceries to about 200 persons per week.
According to Patti Lyons, executive director for Senior Citizens, Inc., Savannah, which serves a seven county region in southeast Georgia, “Today, there are more than 846 older adults in our community that are on the waiting list for a meal.  These are seniors who we have been to their home, we know that they need the food but we don’t have the funds to serve them.  Without a doubt, these seniors will end up in a nursing home or worse much faster than if we could help.”
In every corner of our diocese families and individuals are hungry every day. The formal term for hunger is food insecurity defined as “a lack of access to enough food to fully meet basic needs at all times due to a lack of financial resources.” According to the Food Research and Access Center (FRAC) Georgia ranks 4th for food insecurity with 14% of the population  lacking enough food.
In 2008 as reported by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 1,021,155 people participated in Georgia’s food stamp program now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The USDA also reports that 27 to 35% of the residents of Turner, Ben Hill, Burke, Jenkins, Stewart, Crisp, Dougherty, Early, Terrell and Clay counties receive SNAP. Our diocese has a Catholic presence in six of these counties.
In the 2009 fiscal year, the outreach centers in the Diocese of Savannah provided food for about 12,000 people. They served 30,448 meals, gave out 20,400 sack lunches and provided a little less than 50,000 bags or cartons of food. About $115,000 is spent annually on food and food vouchers along with many in-kind donations.
An important source of revenue for food is the Catholic Relief Services’ Operation Rice Bowl (ORB). Over the past 35 years, $191 million has been collected through Operation Rice Bowl to support CRS’ development projects that improve people’s ability to access food in communities in the United States and around the world.
In the Diocese of Savannah the 2009 Operation Rice Bowl Campaign contributions totaled $19,536.99. Twenty-five percent of that amount ($4,884.24) stayed in the diocese and was distributed locally. ORB monies are used specifically for food assistance so many parishes and outreach centers benefit from the generosity of so many during Lent. Some of the outreach centers and parishes who have been able to take advantage of ORB monies are Neighbors In Need and Saint Clare’s Center in Albany, Saint Theresa Church in Cordele, Holy Family Church of Metter, Saint Boniface Church of Springfield, Saint Paul’s Church of Douglas and the Saint Vincent de Paul Society in Macon.
Operation Rice Bowl and the many people it serves is counting on you during this Lenten season. Please share from your “much” or your “little.” The Body of Christ needs your generosity.