This year?s Youth Spectacular theme is on "Family" and participating youth at the Middle School and High School Youth Spectaculars are being asked to bring items needed by Catholic Charities to fill their bus with goods that will be sent to the Diocese of Brownsville to assist unaccompanied children and families migrating with children across the U.S.-Mexico border.
This year's Middle School Spectacular will be held on Sunday, Sept. 21, and the High School Spectacular will be on Sunday, Sept. 28. Both will be held at the Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds in Robstown.
Catholic Charities has responded on behalf of the Diocese of Corpus Christi to the call, and to its mission, which is rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to provide services to people in need and to address the social ills that undermine the dignity of the person.
"Because of our faith, our Mission, and our Catholic Social Teaching, we serve those in need, we provide help and we create hope in the lives of those we are entrusted to serve," Catholic Charities executive director Linda McKamie said.
In the Spirit of Giving and Receiving, Catholic Charities is committed to bring awareness for the need to reduce food insecurity, hunger and poverty in the Diocese of Corpus Christi and in neighboring communities.
Food insecurity is the limited or uncertain availability of adequate and safe foods for a family or an individual. In the 12-county area of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, food insecurity is at approximately 26 percent.
Hunger refers to the recurrent and involuntary lack of access to sufficient food due to poverty or constrained resources, which lead to malnutrition especially among children and the elderly. Approximately 19 percent of children, elderly and adults in the diocese experience hunger one to three days per month.
"One of the seven Principals of Catholic Social Teaching addresses hunger in a profound way as the Option to the Poor and Vulnerable, which remind us that a basic moral test is how our most vulnerable members are faring," McKamie said. "In a society marred by deepening divisions between rich and poor, our tradition recalls the story of the Last Judgment in the Gospel of Mathew and instructs us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first."
Yearly, Catholic Charities of Corpus Christi distributes more than 1.3 million pounds of food throughout the diocese.
"In our call to serve we are humbly requesting assistance to help our bothers and sisters at Catholic Charities Rio Grande Valley, in the Diocese of Brownsville. In addition, your donations will also benefit the people we serve here at Catholic Charities of Corpus Christi," McKamie said.