Press Release
GREEN BAY, Wis. (July 22, 2021) – The Diocese of Green Bay is happy to announce the 2021 Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Rice Bowl Grant Award Winners. The diocese is a co-sponsor of the annual CRS Rice Bowl collection held every year during Lent.
“I am grateful to the parishes and schools throughout the 16 counties of our diocese who have supported our Rice Bowl collection to provide relief to our brothers and sisters overseas as well as locally. As many continue to navigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CRS Rice Bowl grants provide direct assistance to support immigrants and refugees in our community who are struggling to meet their basic needs. The Rice Bowl collection and the grants it makes possible are a beautiful example of faith in action,” said Peter Weiss, director of living justice for the Diocese of Green Bay.
New Leaf Garden Blitz Project: One grant recipient, New Leaf Foods, will use funds from Rice Bowl to support their 2022 Garden Blitz, a grassroots gardening initiative that will build, deliver, and install 75 raised garden boxes, most of which are provided free or at a reduced cost. The targeted recipients of the garden boxes are immigrants and refugees, particularly Somali, Hispanic, and Hmong families.
“New Leaf Foods, Inc., is so honored to be a CRS Rice Bowl grant recipient. We are excited to provide garden boxes to immigrant families in the Green Bay and De Pere area. This grant helps us to be more inclusive in our program by giving us the funds to make these gardens available and free to these populations. Many have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Garden beds help people to have access to local, healthy food at a reasonable price while building a community of people that grow their own food,” said Kim Diaz, vice president of New Leaf Foods.
This year’s recipients are:
- Compassionate Connections Center (Clintonville) – Lenguajes & Alfabetizacion (Languages and Literacy)
- Golden House (Green Bay) – Basic Material Needs
- New Leaf Foods (Green Bay) – New Leaf Garden Blitz
- NWTC Educational Foundation (Green Bay) – Career Pathways Scholarship for English Language Learners
- Joseph Catholic Church (Wautoma) - Hispanic Migrant Pastoral Ministry
- World Relief Fox Valley (Appleton) – COVID-19 Bridge for Families Facing Utility Disconnection
CRS Rice Bowl is a program of prayer, fasting, learning, and giving to help address the challenges of hunger and poverty around the world. Twenty-five percent of the money collected through diocesan parishes is reserved for local use. This year, $12,000 was awarded to agencies at the local level to meet the basic material needs of immigrant and refugee people in northeastern Wisconsin.
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Who we are: As friends and followers of Jesus, the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay is devoted to fostering households and communities of discipleship through the mission and ministry of the Catholic Church. We are missionary disciples striving to lead all people to the Kingdom of God. Established in 1868, the diocese is composed of 324,000 Catholics in 16 counties: Brown, Calumet, Door, Florence, Forest, Kewaunee, Langlade, Manitowoc, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto, Outagamie, Shawano, Waupaca, Waushara and Winnebago.
Contact: Justine Lodl, director of communications, at 920-272-8213 or