The miracle of the loaves and fishes reveals a simple truth: God multiplies what love dares to give.

This Giving Tuesday, we want to tell you about a special food program that is changing lives.

In the war-ravaged city of Aleppo, Syria, our friars are offering hope and nourishment to people in dire need through the Five Loaves and Two Fish program.

Five Loaves and Two Fish is a humble soup kitchen where pots of rice, lentils, and beans simmer over open flames. Each day, more than 1,000 hot meals are prepared and served with love to children, the elderly, and families shattered by war and disaster.

• $35 provides 70 warm meals for hungry children and the elderly.
• $75 will feed a displaced family for nearly a month.
• $150 can help keep the friars’ soup kitchen running for a full day.

Thirteen years of conflict have left much of Syria in ruins. Homes, hospitals, and entire neighborhoods lie in rubble. The earthquake of 2023 struck another terrible blow, toppling houses, shattering water systems, and leaving families without shelter or bread.

Syria now suffers one of the worst hunger crises in the world, and for many, the Five Loaves and Two Fish program is their only reliable source of nourishment.

But this Christmas, the friars are struggling to keep their soup pots full.

Inflation has sent food prices soaring by more than 300 percent. Bread and cooking oil have become luxuries few can afford. Prolonged drought has devastated crops, while electricity and fuel shortages cripple bakeries and transportation.

Each day, the Franciscans face empty shelves and rising prices. They wonder how long their supplies will last. Yet, they refuse to turn anyone away.

The friars can only continue this lifesaving work with your help. Will you sustain the Five Loaves and Two Fish soup kitchen this Christmas?

Use code 25AASF Syria Food to deliver hope

Your generosity this Christmas season will help keep the soup pots filled, the fires burning, and hope alive in Aleppo.

Almost 90 percent of Syrians currently live below the poverty line. More than half the population, over 12 million men, women, and children, are experiencing severe food insecurity. In Aleppo, the second-largest city in the country, eight in ten people depend on humanitarian aid just to survive.

Your gift today will provide food for thousands of Syrian men, women, and children facing hunger. For many, the meal they receive at the soup kitchen is the only one they will eat that day.

Feed the hungry in Syria this winter using code 25AASF Syria Food

During the Advent and Christmas seasons, Franciscan missionaries in Syria and throughout the world will remember you and your intentions in their daily prayers and Masses.

Please continue to keep us in your own prayers, so that God may strengthen our hands, multiply every act of love we offer, and bring the light of Jesus Christ to all who hunger for hope.

May God bless and reward you for being a faithful partner to Franciscan missionaries across the globe.

With deep gratitude,

Brother Andrew Brophy, OFM
Executive Director
Franciscan Missions