Dear Friends,

Soon we will begin the Lenten season. This season gives us an opportunity to reach out to those in need in a special way. We are so happy that Oak Park Parishes have chosen Foundation for Children in Need, a Catholic Lay Organization as the Lenten cause for this year. We want to thank Father Carl and the entire parish community for giving us this honor and privilege. We will journey with you during Lent and share more about our work in each week’s bulletin. Let us walk together, giving alms, fasting and praying to help all those poor people who struggle on a daily basis, just to live another day. We are confident that sharing our stories of hope and outreach will enrich you during this Holy Lenten Season.

F.C.N. had humble beginnings when we started our office in Arlington Heights in 2002. Father Carl has been a strong supporter of our work and has personally visited our missions in India in 2016.

The mission and vision of F.C.N. is to provide opportunities for Catholic Communities in the U.S. to reach out and bring hope to the poor and needy in India. Each summer we travel to many Parishes around the country making appeals for three reasons: 1) to promote the needs of people in India, 2) to request prayers, and 3) to raise financial support for education, health care and self-sustaining economic solutions.

God has richly blessed us and F.C.N. Today, F.C.N. is able to sponsor more than 1,500 children and college students and 100 elderly. We have built several schools, student residences, two homes for the aged and a community health center. All this good work has been possible through your continued prayers and generosity. For more detailed information, please visit our website at: www.fcn-usa.org

We welcome you to join us during this Holy Lenten Season to consider making little sacrifices of alms-giving, fasting and prayer so that a child or senior in need in India might experience your gift of love and have their hope renewed.

We wish you a Grace filled Lenten Season.

With Prayers and much Gratitude,
Dr. Geetha and Tom Chitta
Founders Foundation for Children in Need

I would like to tell you a little bit about our Lenten mission appeal charity: FCN. I've been to India six times, but two years ago, I spent nearly two weeks hands-on, participating in its profound mission to poor children and senior citizens, and witnessing firsthand the palpable gratitude people express for how FCN has changed their lives.

At the FCN Home for the Elderly, I saw how seniors – who would otherwise be abandoned – are given housing, nutritious meals, medical care, and a loving community. Uniquely in Hindu- and Muslim-majority India, they also participate in Christ’s spiritual nourishment through daily Mass, prayers, and a weekly holy hour. The home grows much of its own food, but even more, it grows souls.

I also joined in on other ministries, where we fed hundreds of the poorest of the poor, and provided essentials like blankets and reusable water bottles. We visited orphanages where sponsorships from the U.S. give children a safe home, education, and a chance to break free from poverty – education is the great equalizer in life. We attended a science fair, met students at a school for the deaf, visited homes built for rural families and a center for those with leprosy, and saw how FCN helps children with cleft palates receive life-changing surgeries. And that’s just a glimpse of all FCN does!

FCN makes visible the hands and feet of Christ in a place where His mission is often unseen. Your support creates a real difference. Please pray for our mission and consider sponsoring a child, making a donation, or filling up your coin cup. Every gift changes lives. The gratitude of those touched by FCN’s work is immeasurable – let’s be part of their hope.

Greg Kozak, Chairperson of FCN