YANGON (UCAN) -- Whenever Marie Nilar Myint cooks for her family, she grabs an handful of rice and drops the uncooked grains into a special container.

"My mind sees needy faces when I put that rice aside," she told UCA News.

A handful seems a pittance, but when 30 members of the Women's Association and a few other Catholics of St. Lazarus parish do the same each time they cook, they help 10 needy families eat three meals a day, month after month.

These days, a kilo of ordinary rice costs about 600 kyats (approximately 50 US cents). That is nearly double what it cost about a year ago.

Handful by handful, the rice adds up, said Nilar Myint, the association's secretary. The women have followed the practice day after day ever since their association began on Aug. 15, 2005. Their patron saint is the Blessed Mother.

At the church in Yangon archdiocese, Nilar Myint, 30, told UCA News that giving rice and vegetables to the needy to eat is just one activity of the association's members. They also visit and pray for patients in hospital and hold prayer meetings in parishioners' homes.

They also make a special point of visiting Catholics who seldom go to church and some couples living together but not yet married in the Church.

"Our aim is to give and share love with the poor according to the Bible and to imitate Mother Mary," she explained.

Rita, vice president of the association, told UCA News that collecting a little rice from members' homes may seem a small gesture, but it adds up when others in the parish contribute. "I realize each can donate only a small amount, but it's the least we can do," said Rita, who uses just one name.

Spearheading the effort is Stella Wai Wai Tun, an association member who collects and distributes the rice by bicycle. "At the end of every month, the needy wait for me. By that time, I will have collected three or four sacks of rice," she told UCA News. Some parishioners also donate vegetables, she added.

She said she enjoys peace of mind when she sees the happy faces of the poor recipients. "I am from a poor family myself," she added, "so volunteering for this charitable work gives me satisfaction." After collecting the donated rice, she distributes it to the 10 needy families.

Theresa Ni Ni Win told UCA News that her five-member family must struggle to get by on little money because she and her husband are daily-wage earners and they "don't have enough for our daily life."

She said her family thanks the association, whose monthly gift of rice makes them happy. "When our children feel unwell," she explained, "we must spend money on their medical treatment, so we can only afford to give them rice porridge."

Catherine John, the association's president, told UCA News what inspired for the "handful of rice" program. A few years back, she said, she visited Loikaw diocese in northeastern Myanmar and was impressed by the Catholics collecting rice and using the money from its sale to pay for the building of a church.

"The parishioners could build a church with the money they got by collecting and selling rice," she said. "We recognized their good efforts in Loikaw and began the practice of collecting handfuls of rice in our own parish."

Nilar Myint said collecting handfuls of rice at first seemed strange, but now she appreciates it. "I see God's face by supporting the needy," she said.

END