Card. Tagle seeks support for Lenten feeding campaign

Card. Tagle seeks support for Lenten feeding campaign

Catholics in Philippines are being urged to support a Church-based feeding program for  the country’s malnourished children. The “Fast2Feed” asks people to fast and donate the money that would otherwise be spent for food to Hapag-Asa program of Pondo ng Pinoy (Funds for Filipinos) of the Archdiocese of Manila and its suffragan dioceses.

In a pastoral letter for Ash Wednesday, Feb. 10, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle asks the faithful to feed hungry children as their concrete act of charity in this Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.

“It only takes Php 1,200 or ten pesos a day to bring back a hungry and malnourished child to a healthy state in six months,” noted the prelate.

“Let us make a difference in their lives by fasting and donating whatever we save to Hapag-Asa. Let us Fast2Feed,” he said. The program provides not only supplemental feeding but also early childhood education and livelihood and skills training for parents.

Last year, donations  provided more than 21,000  malnourished and undernourished children in the Pondo ng Pinoy member dioceses with warm and nutritious meals every day for six months. The Cardinal said the program’s goal for this year is to feed 25,000 children.

Donations can be made through Fast2Feed envelopes distributed in various parishes and they may be offered during the Mass, or be turned over to the parish office.

Ash Wednesday signals the start of Lent, the season for Catholics especially to do good works, fast and pray. And with the Year of Mercy being observed by the Church, the cardinal said Lent should be a particular occasion to “heed Pope Francis’ call to practice mercy through concrete acts of charity.” 

(CBCP News)

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