Just Say "NO" to the CCHD Annual Appeal

It's that time of the year again. The annual appeal for the USCCB's Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) is set for the next-to-last weekend in the liturgical year. On November 22 and 23, throughout the US, the faithful will hear the appeal for a "second collection" for the CCHD.

But--have we, the faithful, heard about how the CCHD allegedly has been using this second collection?

Over the last few years, reports from journalists investigating the CCHD show some grants to questionable, at best, recipients. By "questionable," I refer to apparent activities of the grantee organizations that run contrary to Church teaching.

What kind of activities, you ask?

Pretty much the range of hot-button issues: abortion, contraception, homosexuality, and the like. Based on what I have seen on sites that seem reputable to me, these issues continue ,while the CCHD seemingly refuses to really discuss them.

So--what should we do?

I guess one question to ask ourselves is whether this is where we want our hard-earned money going. This is especially so when you can find any number of other organizations with more transparency and more prudent decisions about who gets the benefits of their largesse. (As well, some parishes seem to struggle with accounting for second collection receipts, so even if a second collection appeal is made for a good charity, you're probably better off donating directly to the charity, rather than going through a second collection.)

Might we consider other alternatives for helping the poor, and just say "No" to the CCHD?

As for me and my house, that's what we'll do.