A collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development is slated for Nov. 22-23 in parishes throughout the Diocese. Traditionally held the weekend before Thanksgiving, the collection is taken up in parishes and dioceses nationwide. The theme of this year’s collection is: “Defend Human Dignity. Take Poverty Off the Map.”

Propagated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, this collection is the primary source of funding for CCHD’s anti-poverty grants and education programs, which enable low-income people to join together to identify problems, make decisions and improve their communities. For over 40 years, CCHD has funded organizations that address the root causes of poverty. Seventy-five percent of the money raised goes to national organizations, and 25 percent is given to organizations within the Diocese.

“Its focus is in trying to address the needs of domestic poverty,” said Father John Garrett, diocesan director of CCHD. “Catholic Relief Service is our global outreach of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and CCHD is the domestic outreach to help fight poverty and help people who are, as Pope Francis says, on the fringes – those in physical poverty as well as spiritual poverty.”

He said the grants given by the Diocese go to “those who provide some kind of direct service to the people in need.”

Father Garrett, who was named diocesan CCHD director Oct. 1, said about $34,000 in grants, or the 25 percent that was kept from the total raised in the Diocese by the campaign last year, will go to organizations in the Diocese determined by a committee consisting of Father Garrett; Daughter of Charity Sister Joanne Dress, diocesan executive director of Catholic Social Services, and Marie Gladney, director of the Mount Carmel Guild in Trenton. The periol for these grants ended Oct. 24.

Organizations can only receive grants from the Diocese two years in a row.

Last year, a handful of community organizations and social service agencies in the Diocese benefited from grants received through the campaign, such as Visitation Relief Center in Brick, the St. Francis Community Center on Long Beach Island, Mount Carmel Guild, Collier Youth Services in Wickatunk and the diocesan Office of Jail and Prison Ministries.

During the 2012-2013 grant cycle, the nationwide campaign gave out 214 grants in community and economic development, totaling more than $9 million. Of these grants, 178 went to community development and 36 went to economic development and job creation projects.

“In the United States, 46 million people live in poverty,” said Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, Calif., and chairman of USCCB’s Subcommittee on the CCHD. “CCHD brings the Gospel message to issues of social justice. We cannot simply help a struggling family today and leave them with no means of support tomorrow. Instead, the projects funded by CCHD focus on long-term solutions to poverty.”

Many of the funded projects focus on health care, immigration, community safety, political participation and environmental justice.

More information about the CCHD is available at http://www.povertyusa.org/. For collection materials and other resources, visit http://www.usccb.org/ and search “CCHD Collection Resources.”