Cross International

"For I was hungry and you gave me food..."

Each day 800 million people go to bed hungry and each year more than 6 million children under five die from malnutrition. Through the support of compassionate donors, Cross employs several methods to get food to those who so desperately need it...

Orphans - Ministries around the world care for orphans as well as abandoned children, street kids, and other vulnerable children at risk of going hungry. One of the greatest expenses to caring for these children is food—something they often went without before the orphanage took them in. Cross supports the food costs for Christian orphanages around the world so thousands of needy children may grow healthy and strong.

Starving children - Starving children are so malnourished their skin clings to their bones; they get distended bellies, sunken eyes, and their limbs become stiff and frail as toothpicks. They are close to death and past the point of being able to eat—their emaciated bodies reject food. Only the most intense medical and nutritional care can save them. Cross provides Vitafood—a food specially developed to rescue severely malnourished and starving children.

Slum dwellers - Enduring massive unemployment and suffering absolute poverty, families living in slums are practically homeless and usually hungry. Compassionate Christians minister to the needs of these very poor, and through the support of Cross International Catholic Outreach, are able to bring them much-needed food.

Needy students - Poor children often come to school with an empty stomach and have no lunch to eat. When they finally get supper, it's usually not enough and they go to bed hungry. Such students lack the energy they need to succeed in school. So Cross helps provide meals for them to eat at school—and teachers see a dramatic difference in their performance. In some areas, Cross provides groceries to send home with students from needy families, so their parents and siblings will be able to eat too.

Food shipments - Ministries in developing countries are rarely able to purchase the food they need at competitive prices. In fact, prices for basic foods such as rice and beans can be twice as high in "local" markets as they are elsewhere. Cross can often meet a ministry's needs by either sending donated dry goods or by shopping the world market and shipping commodities in bulk. The savings can be significant. In some cases, a ministry partner gets ten times the goods at the same cost.

Cross is able to feed thousands of hungry families through the generosity of caring donors who will one day meet Jesus; and He will say, "I was hungry and you gave me food." You, too, can feed the hungry through a gift to Cross International Catholic Outreach.