During the Lenten season many Roman Catholics in the Roanoke Valley and elsewhere are symbolically filling "rice bowls" as they practice the principles of Lent: praying, fasting, giving alms and learning about the joys and challenges of others.

Parishioners are taking Operation Rice Bowl kits that include a home calendar guide and a cardboard rice bowl.

They fill the bowls with loose change or savings from meals when they fast.

The calendar offers prayer suggestions -- including the Lenten Prayer -- and ideas for fasting. It also has testimonies and information from those in economically developing countries helped by Catholic Relief Services through donations to Operation Rice Bowl.

"The purpose is to widen the horizons of Catholics; go beyond our own needs, especially in the designated developing countries," the Rev. Rene Castillo of St. Gerard Catholic Church said of Operation Rice Bowl, which has become a major part of Lent in almost every diocese in the United States.

By making small sacrifices and eating less than they normally would each week, people donate the money they would have spent on food to support the relief service's mission to fight global hunger, Castillo said. That's also giving alms to support projects that alleviate hunger and improve living conditions in 40 African, Asian and Latin American countries and the United States, he explained.

His parish has seen an increase in Operation Rice Bowl donations each year, Castillo said, adding that donations have been more than $2,500 in the past two years.

Parishioners at St. Andrew's Catholic Church have given thousands of dollars to Catholic Relief Services during the eight or so years they've participated in the program, said coordinator Jean Kleba.

"It's usually the change in their pockets at the end of the day," Kleba said.

But, last year, for example, children in the Sunday Christian Formation class collected more than $400 by bringing their change to church.

To supplement the spare change that St. Andrew's parishioners place in about 400 cardboard rice bowls, the church also holds Wednesday night soup dinners where the $3 donations go to the fund drive.

"We aren't required to participate; this is part of our outreach," Kleba said.

Catholic Relief Services has designated India, Guatemala, Haiti, Mali and Cameroon as recipients of donations from Operation Rice Bowl.

In Guatemala, for example, Catholic Relief Services and partner agency Caritas helped construct a new water and sanitation system after Hurricane Stan hit in October 2005, leaving many villagers without water for two months and no resources to rebuild a water supply system.

"Helping people in need through fasting and giving is a big component of ORB, but we also urge people to help others through prayer and by learning about the factors that cause hunger and poverty," said a news release from Beth Martin, the director of Operation Rice Bowl.

Last year, Catholic Relief Services raised $8 million through Operation Rice Bowl. About 75 percent of the money is used to fund overseas projects in the areas of agriculture, water and sanitation, education, HIV and AIDS, microfinance, and maternal and child health. The remaining 25 percent stays in U.S. dioceses to support local projects such as food pantries and hunger centers.

Since its beginning in 1975, Operation Rice Bowl has raised more than $167 million to fund Catholic Relief development projects.

For more information, visit orb.crs.org.