Applications for Operation Rice Bowl grants are now available through the diocesan Office for the Missions.

Operation Rice Bowl is sponsored by the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois and Catholic Relief Services. The Lenten program of prayer, fasting, learning and fund-raising is conducted in Catholic parishes throughout the 28 counties of the diocese. Seventy-five percent of the funds raised are used for international relief and development projects. The remaining 25 percent is distributed within the diocese for food programs and root-cause-of-poverty relief efforts.

Eligible programs are those which feed the hungry and/or work to resolve the root causes of hunger.

Only programs within the boundaries of the diocese will be considered for grant approval and must be primarily supported by the community - churches, volunteers and donations.

Applications may be downloaded from the diocesan Web site, www.dio.org , or contact any Catholic parish.

For more information, call the diocesan Office for the Missions at (217) 698-8500, ext. 120.