Who We Are
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the international humanitarian arm of the Catholic Church in the United States. For more than 80 years, Catholic Relief Services has served as the official overseas relief and development agency of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, embodying the global mission of the Church to assist poor and vulnerable people around the world and steadfastly uphold the dignity of all in accordance with Gospel teachings. CRS provides assistance to roughly 130 million people in more than 110 countries and territories in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. CRS promotes human development by responding to major emergencies, fighting disease and poverty, and nurturing peaceful and just societies. As Catholics in the United States, and in partnering with Catholic Relief Services, the people of the Diocese of San José live their faith in solidarity with their brothers and sisters around the world.CRS Rice Bowl Grant Application 2026-2027 process:
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Jan/Feb → CRS Rice Bowl materials shipped.
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February 18 → Ash Wednesday/Rice Bowl & Lent begins.
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March 29→ Palm Sunday / Turn in Rice Bowls to Parish or School.
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April 5 → Easter Sunday.
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May 18 -> Rice Bowl Grant application available.
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May 22 → Deadline to send Rice Bowl collections to Diocese.
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July 10 → DSJ Rice Bowl Grant application deadline.
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September → DSJ Rice Bowl Grant Award Ceremony.
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Please note: if you are a current Rice Bowl Grant recipient (2025-2026), please remember that you must submit the interim Progress Report by July 17, 2026 in order to be considered as a grant recipient for 2026-2027.
The CRS Rice Bowl Grant program is for parish or school-based projects to address hunger and/or poverty alleviation in Santa Clara County.
To be eligible for a CRS Rice Bowl grant, the parish or school must have participated with the CRS Rice Bowl collection and program.
Grant recipients must submit all requested reports on time and be consistent with communication and updates after each time grant funds are utilized. Acceptable updates include, but are not limited to, pictures, social media posts, stories from the field, news articles, etc.
The grant year period runs from October of the current year through September of the following year.
Please use the Quick links below for the Application and other information.
2026-2027 CRS Rice Bowl Grant Application forms
CRS Rice Bowl (Feb 18 – April 2, 2026)
Over the past 50 years, Catholic Relief Service’s Rice Bowls have become a staple on the table of Catholic families across the country during Lent. These CRS Rice Bowls encourage us to follow the Lenten practice of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, calling each person to action through the calendar included with each bowl, and location-specific themed vegetarian recipes. The Rice Bowl collection is specifically focused on feeding the hungry around the world and in our own Diocese.CRS 2nd Collection (March 15, 2026)
A different collection from the Rice Bowl, the CRS Second Collection is taken up annually and focuses on pushing back against the overarching ravages of poverty by funding various efforts:
- Providing emergency relief in the wake of disasters and civil conflict,
- Fighting disease,
- Nurturing peaceful and just societies,
- Long-term development programming in the areas of water, agriculture, education, micro finance, community health and peace building.
CRS vs Rice Bowl – what’s the difference?
With the well-being of our indigent brothers and sisters hanging in the balance, we express our clarion call to your parish communities to hearken the words of Jesus Christ, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.