The CRS Rice Bowl began as the idea of a group of Pennsylvania churchmen back in 1975.
Msgr. Robert Coll of the Allentown Catholic Diocese, a Jewish rabbi, and Presbyterian, Episcopal and Lutheran ministers devised the rice bowl program as an ecumenical response to a severe drought in the African Sahel (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia).
The program's success encouraged Msgr. Coll to ask Cardinal John Krol of Philadelphia to include the rice bowl as part of the 1976 Eucharistic Congress, which was to be held in Philadelphia. Cardinal Krol agreed and enlisted Catholic Relief Services to sponsor Operation Rice Bowl.
Helping the poor was not new for Msgr. Coll. Two years earlier, he had spent his vacation aiding earthquake victims in Guatemala. in 1979, he went to work for CRS, bringing food to starving people in Lebanon, Central America and Somalia.
In 1985, Msgr. Coll returned to the United States and became executive director of the Interfaith Hunger Appeal in New York. he led a nationwide letter-writing campaign to urge President Ronald Reagan to "do everything in your power to feed the hungry of the world." He also held "lunchless lunches" where he encouraged prominent Philadelphians to skip a meal and hear speeches about the fight against hunger.
- Little Black Book, Diocese of Saginaw