LA Archdiocese’s CRS chapters urge greater Rice Bowl donations after US cuts

After the U.S. government began cutting funding for international humanitarian aid in 2025, Heidi Villaluz, a California coalition leader for Catholic Relief Services, took a trip to Guatemala in July of that year, coordinated by a group of Maryknoll priests. The purpose was to build relations as well as provide hands-on assistance, as the local impoverished lacked many basic health services and looked for answers.

“It was a way to learn in real time what we had only heard and read about,” said Villaluz about meeting the CRS Guatemala team.

Immediately, what became most disheartening, she said, were real-life examples of how systems that had been in place were already breaking down.

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(Photo Credit: Heidi Villaluz)