The Christmas campaign began on Dec. 6 and will run to the new year.
Jones told host Tracy Sabol that the campaign began in 2021 in an effort to support the widows and orphans of Afghan allies who were killed in action as well as the Afghan allies who were left in Afghanistan after the United States withdrew from the country.
“In the first two years of the program, we’ve distributed enough coal to provide 40 million hours of heat and 5 million meals to the widows and orphans of our allies who were killed, our allies in hiding, and to religious and ethnic minorities suffering acute hunger,” he shared.
“What we hope that we do through our ‘Coal for Christmas’ campaign, modeling our work after St. Nicholas’ example, is to stand with the poorest of the poor in the world as they suffer and strive to survive this brutal winter,” he added.
In addition to heat and meals, VPP has built a women’s medical center in Afghanistan and has provided security for girls’ schools.
This year, “Coal for Christmas” has started to work with the Catholic community in Mongolia. Jones shared that they were able to purchase 40 tons of coal that would be distributed to the Christian communities in Mongolia.