FRANCISCANS SHARE BREAD WITH EVERYONE. EVERY DAY.

TAKE THE FRANCISCAN CHALLENGE

Imagine not being able to feed dinner to your children, or sleeping on the street tonight. Imagine not being able to see a doctor when you’re sick, or walking eight miles to fill containers with clean drinking water. Imagine not having money to bury a loved one, or to pay the utility bill.

The more than 2 million children, women and men who come to the Franciscan Friars for help don’t have to imagine. They live these realities every day. But your generosity to The Franciscan Challenge changes lives and brings hope. Your donation supports Franciscan Friars Charities, which invests in the daily work of the Friars at our soup kitchens, food pantries, breadlines, health clinics, migrant centers, and other outreach ministries where we care for those living in poverty, hunger, addiction, and other hardships and struggles. Our work extends from coast-to-coast in the United States, and in Puerto Rico, Cuba and our Franciscan Missions in Jamaica, Africa and South America. Your generosity is an investment in the Friars’ work of healing, uniting and transforming the lives of the most vulnerable. Everyone. Every. Day.

No one who comes to the Friars for food, clothing, medicine and other basic life necessities is turned away. We care for the poor and those on the margins with compassion, dignity and respect. Everyone. Every. Day. But we couldn’t do any of this without your generosity to the Franciscan Challenge – our fundraising campaign that supports this work and ministry of the Friars. Imagine a reality where no child is hungry today, everyone has a roof over their head and a warm bed to sleep tonight, and the sick are being cared for. You can help the Friars get closer to these realities. Take The Franciscan Challenge – and help the Friars help them. Everyone. Every. Day.

Franciscan stories

St. Francis Inn

Ruth and her two young children are homeless. The single mother struggled to scrape up the next meal for her kids and dress them with warm clothes. In the winter. That was before Ruth found St. Francis Inn, the Franciscan soup kitchen in Philadelphia that feeds over 200 homeless, hungry, unemployed and poor guests every day. The Inn’s thrift shop makes sure the children have coats and sweaters.

Navajo Nation

The locals call it the “jewel of the desert” – St. Mary Mission in Tohatchi, New Mexico. About 100 miles away in Chinle, Arizona, stands Our Lady of Fatima Church – both are in the heart of the Navajo Nation, where families live in dilapidated trailer homes, single-room dwellings, and government housing in disrepair. Most have no plumbing or electricity, and little food on the table. But the struggles would be greater if the Franciscans weren’t there with hope, food pantries, thrift shops, and other outreach services.

Franciscan Mission in Jamaica

As difficult as life is in Negril, the Friars are a beacon of hope for residents living in poverty and despair. The Franciscan Mission is filling the gaps with life-giving and life-saving ministry – a soup kitchen, food pantry, health clinic, thrift shop, education initiative, and other outreach that helps families, children, elderly, hungry, poor, sick, and homeless survive from one day to the next.

YOUR SUPPORT CHANGE LIVES

THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG FRIARS

Help us with the education of our young Friars, the future of the Church who will continue the legacy of St. Francis of Assisi by joyfully living the gospel message and caring for the poor and marginalized with compassion, dignity, respect and hope.

CARE FOR THE POOR

From the first time St. Francis of Assisi went into the streets to care for the lepers and poor, Franciscan Friars, more than 800 years later, continue to embrace the neglected and marginalized with love, compassion and hope – which comes in the form of food, clothing, medicine, shelter and other life necessities. We couldn’t do this without your generous support.

CARE FOR ELDERLY FRIARS

Your generosity helps us care for our elderly Friars who have given so much to so many during their years of service and ministry – their pastoral and sacramental care, prayer, preaching and teaching, and living the Gospel message. Help us care for them as they embark on the journey of their final yes to God.

What is the work of the Franciscan Friars?

The core of our mission is to live out a Gospel life and serve all the people of God regardless of their faith, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or nationality.

What makes the Franciscan Friars different?

The Franciscan Friars have always been thought of as “of the people and with the people.” Living in community is one of our core values and helps the Friars to be a little more down to earth. The Friars never see themselves as better than anyone and are not judge-mental and are very accepting of everyone.

Why do the Franciscan Friars need money?

The Franciscan Friars do not beg for themselves but for others and most importantly for the poor and desperate they serve. However, there are times that need a stronger call and that is now. In the tradition of begging, we are asking for money for three very important causes: • one to educate our young men who desire to become Franciscan Friars • for our work with the 2 million poor and desperate men, women and children who come to us each year, a tradition we have been doing for over 800 years • and to take care of our sick and elderly Franciscan Friars who have helped so many for so long and now need care of themselves.

"If not for the Franciscan Friars I wouldn't be where I am today. I can very possibly still be homeless. They went above beyond to make sure I was fed, clothed and had all the necessities to make it through this. I am so grateful to them."

-SEAN