Catholic Charities and the Office of Religious Education for the Archdiocese of New Orleans are offering a summer service camp, SERVE, or Students Engaging in Reflective Volunteer Experiences.

SERVE is an opportunity for high school students to give back to the community and achieve the service hours required by many parochial high schools.  Sessions run for one week with three 40-hour sessions, one 20-hour session, and one 12-hour session available.  Each day of camp will start with prayer  and one full day of reflection led by local campus ministers (SERVE- 40 hour week only).  Students may sign up for more than one session.

SERVE sites include Catholic Charities program Operation Helping Hands and affiliated ministry Second Harvest Food Bank. Mini-SERVE sites are 4 Head Starts and Second Harvest.   Students must be incoming freshman and are required to participate in the full week to receive verification of completion of service hours. 

Registration is non-refundable – $25.00 for SERVE and $15 for Mini-SERVE.  All participants will receive a free t-shirt. Registration is open now until full.  For more information contact Shannon Murphy, Director of Volunteers at (504) 310-6962. 

Register online here >

Ten months have passed since the April 20th explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. But work still remains.

If you follow news about the oil spill from New Orleans, you know that the claims process run by Kenneth Feinberg is not easy for fishing families to navigate. Most on the Louisiana coast are unable to get back to work in the seafood industry.

Catholic Charities continues to operate four oil spill relief centers on the coast: at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Port Sulphur, St. Thomas Catholic Church in Pointe A La Hache, St. Bernard Catholic Church in St. Bernard and St. Anthony Catholic Church in Lafitte. We are no longer providing case management services at Mary Queen of Vietnam in New Orleans East, but our mental health counselors are still there.

In the ten months since the oil spill,

• We have served 39,710 people* (16,071 families*). *Many individuals and families have received multiple services from Catholic Charities.
• We have provided $942,675 in total food assistance, including boxes from our affiliated ministry Second Harvest Food Bank and vouchers to local grocery stores.
• Our mental health counselors have logged 13,866 visits with those in need.
• We have given $401,002 in direct financial aid to fishing families.

If you or someone you know needs help, please call our toll-free Care Line at (866) 891-2210.

Renowned pianist George Winston will perform a benefit concert on February 19 for families we continue to help in the aftermath of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

George Winston in concert
Saturday, February 19 at 7:30 PM
Roussel Hall on the campus of Loyola University New Orleans
$40 reserved seating/$20 Loyola student & staff seating
Tickets are available here or by calling (504) 865-2074
Non-perishable donations for Second Harvest Food Bank will be accepted at the door.

Since the oil spill, we have provided $860,403 in food assistance and $378,787 in direct financial assistance to 39,630* fishermen and their families along the coast. Our mental health counselors have logged 13,588 visits with those struggling to cope with the disaster. Our case managers continue to help fishermen with the often-confusing and time consuming claims process.

George Winston plays more than 100 solo piano concerts a year in America and beyond, inspired by the seasons. These concerts feature a variety of styles, including his melodic folk piano, stride piano, New Orleans R&B piano, Vince Guaraldi’s Peanuts pieces, songs by The Doors and more. His new cd is titled Love will Come – The Music of Vince Guaraldi, Vol. 2.

In order to serve the fishing communities affected by the oil spill, Catholic Charities and our affiliated ministry Second Harvest Food Bank have partnered with Catholic Church parishes, local governments, state agencies (DSS and DHH), and other area non-profits.

At our five oil spill relief centers, families can receive food vouchers to local grocery stores, case management services, crisis counseling and other emergency supplies. 

Through July 21, 2010:

• We have provided emergency assistance to 18,541 people (6,983 families).
• We have distributed $371,500 in food vouchers to affected families and $78,540 in emergency food boxes from our affiliated ministry Second Harvest Food Bank.
• Our affiliated ministry Second Harvest Food Bank has distributed about 296,289 pounds of food (about 230,000 meals) to its member agencies in 11 Louisiana parishes affected by the oil spill.
• We have distributed 393 cans of baby formula and 1,051 packages of diapers.
• Our mental health crisis counselors have provided crisis counseling to 5,843 people.
• We have distributed $180,355 in other direct assistance and baby supplies to families.

We are operating five oil spill relief centers in the affected areas:

• St. Bernard Catholic Church in St. Bernard
• St. Thomas in Point-a-la-Hache
• St. Patrick in Port Sulphur
• Mary, Queen of Vietnam in NO East
• St. Anthony in Lafitte
• We are also providing counseling information and referrals at Breton Sound and Venice, LA.

If you need help, please call the toll-free Catholic Charities Care Line at (866) 891-2210.

Click here to make a donation to our Oil Spill Relief Fund >

NEWS RELEASE:
May 18, 2010, New Orleans, LA – Today, BP America announced a combined $1 million donation to Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans and Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana.  The donation will support emergency food assistance, direct financial aid and counseling for fishermen and their families in the affected coastal parishes.

The Catholic Church, through Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans and Second Harvest Food Bank has been on the ground since April 29 providing emergency food assistance, case management, counseling services and vouchers to fishermen and their families. 

In the past two weeks, they have served more than 1000 individuals and families and are experiencing a growth in need among the people.  Second Harvest Food Bank Member agencies have already experienced a 15 to 25 percent increase in the number of new people seeking emergency food assistance since May 1.

Read the rest of this entry »

ABC World News ran a story on Thanksgiving Day about hunger in America.

Our clients and some of our staff are featured in the story, as well as our affiliated corporation, Second Harvest Food Bank.

Please click here or on the picture to view the story >