Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) launched an advertising campaign encouraging Catholics to love and serve their neighbors with volunteer work with local CCUSA agencies.
"Often we think of a neighbor as just someone who lives nearby, but it's more than simple geography," a new 30-second video advertisement states.
"Being a neighbor is how you show up in moments of need, when things are unsure, when small acts can be huge, and you're a light in someone's darkest moment, showing up again and again to faithfully serve," the advertisement adds. "That's a neighbor. Be the hope around the corner in your neighborhood nationwide."
According to a news release, CCUSA has 169 affiliates in the country and serves more than 16 million people every year.
CCUSA Vice President for Communications Kevin Brennan told EWTN News the organization launched the advertisements because volunteers are "the backbone of the work of the Catholic Charities network across the country."
"There's always more need, and so it is a priority for us at [CCUSA] and for agencies across the country to encourage people to volunteer," he said.
Brennan said specific services vary depending on location to "respond to the specific needs of those most in need in their local communities." The largest service, he said, is to "feed hungry people" through food pantries or other services such as delivering meals to homebound seniors.
Services also include support for those with developmental disabilities, accompanying pregnant mothers in need, and financial counseling for veterans looking to enter the workforce or change careers, among other things.
He said CCUSA "really serves virtually any category of a person in need that you can think of" and any person "can contact your local Catholic Charities agency and learn how you can get involved."
Brennan said each agency is united in the core mission to "live out the Gospel call to love your neighbor and serve those most in need." He said doing volunteer work also "benefits the one doing the service."
"We know [serving your neighbor is] critical to being a well-rounded person [and] to being a well-rounded Catholic," he said.
According to the news release, the first round of advertisements will run until the end of May, and another two phases will run in the summer and fall. They will appear on Catholic media, other Christian media, and secular national media outlets. They will also run on podcasts and digital publications.
CCUSA will run advertisements in both English and Spanish media.
"Inspired by the merciful, selfless acts of service undertaken each day by the staff and volunteers of the Catholic Charities network, this campaign calls all of us to find ways, big and small, to offer assistance and accompaniment to those struggling in our midst," CCUSA President and CEO Kerry Alys Robinson said in a statement.
"By following the Gospel call to love and serve our neighbors, we can strengthen our communities, our world, and ourselves," she said.
The campaign was launched in conjunction with CCUSA's launch of the traveling museum People of Hope, which celebrates Christian service with stories of faith-based acts of charity.
The museum's nationwide tour began in late March. It offers an exhibit with 42 stories from CCUSA staff serving around the country and an interactive data wall on poverty and other challenges.
