SHA Hosts Annual CRS Rice Bowl Luncheon

On Thursday, Feb. 23, Sacred Heart Academy had the honor of hosting the Catholic Relief Service’s annual Rice Bowl Luncheon. This event kickstarts the program’s annual Rice Bowl collection which lasts through the Lenten season.

The Rice Bowl collection allows people to donate money they would typically spend on the things they are giving up for Lent. This concept gives everyone a chance to not only make sacrifices, but to give back to the community as well.

In SHA’s gym, refugees and CRS members, as well as students and administrators from a variety of schools in Louisville, met to learn about the different cultures of each individual involved with the organization. A variety of speakers were featured at the event, as well as Archbishop Kurtz’s attendance.

“Knowing that [the luncheon] was the result of the hard work of folks at SHA caused us all to feel thankful for being part of a community that is advocating for those that are too often unrepresented, disrespected, and at times, wrongly feared,” said SHA history teacher Kyle Jones.

The entire day offered a sense of encouragement to those who attended, especially for the SHA community. As Mr. Jones described, it provided each of the students who attended an inside look in what their faith pushes them to do: to advocate for those who are in need.

From a student’s perspective, senior Emily Azzara recounted her experience with the luncheon as well.

“The Rice Bowl Luncheon always puts reality right in front of my face. With the prevalence of the immigration issues in today’s society, it made everything that much more real,” Azzara said.

The Rice Bowl Luncheon delivered the message that giving back to the community is viable to our lives and our faith. It showed the people in attendance how issues of certain injustices are extremely prevalent in society, and it helped to encourage everyone there to do better by their community.

Events, such as this, serve as an encouragement to give back this Lent, and is one that the SHA community can give to.