On behalf of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and the Office of Catholic Social Action, I want to thank you for participating in Operation Rice Bowl this year. We truly appreciate your efforts to promote this program on behalf of Catholic Relief Services. Through prayer, fasting, learning, and giving, we are making a positive difference in the lives of people around the world . . . and in our own neighborhoods.

As parishes and schools wrap up the collection for Operation Rice Bowl (ORB), I would like to address three brief items.

1. When you send ORB funds, please make one check payable to: Archdiocese of Milwaukee – ORB, and kindly submit by: June 30, 2006.

2. There is a brief survey we are conducting on behalf of Catholic Relief Services in relation to your ORB program. We would appreciate a moment of your time to reply. It is incorporated into the designation form.

3. I wish to remind you of the two options you have to designate funds locally. As you are likely aware, 25% of all ORB funds stay within our Archdiocese and are distributed to local hunger or poverty alleviation programs.

YOUR OPTIONS: You can choose to send 25% of your collected funds directly to the program of your choice, or you can send 100% of your ORB funds to the Archdiocese. If you choose this second option, we will pool all contributions and distribute them throughout the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. As an example of pooled distributions, we were able to make donations in the amount of $2,000 or more to the following programs using the 25% allocation of ORB local funds from 2005:

Homeless Assistance Leadership Organization, Racine County, for Homeless Shelter
St. Benedict the Moor, Milwaukee County, for St. Ben’s Community Meal Program
Daystar, Milwaukee County, for Battered Women’s Shelter
House of Peace, Milwaukee County, for Emergency Food Pantry
St. Vincent de Paul, Waukesha County, for St. Joseph Food Pantry
St. Vincent de Paul, Sheboygan County, for Hmong Resettlement
St. Vincent de Paul, Kenosha County, for Emergency Food Pantry
St. Vincent de Paul, Milwaukee County, for Meal Program

Please send ORB funds to:
Archdiocese of Milwaukee
Office of Catholic Social Action
Operation Rice Bowl 2006
3501 South Lake Drive
Milwaukee, WI 53207-0912

Again, our sincerest thanks and appreciation for your dedication to Operation Rice Bowl!

God bless,
Kathy Shine
Office of Catholic Social Action
(414) 769-3366
shinek@archmil.org