A worldwide Lenten tradition that encourages Catholics to turn spare change into charitable giving began more than 50 years ago with a simple idea inside the rectory of St. Thomas More Church in Allentown.
“It started with a simple bowl, and a big mission,” a parish representative said.
The concept, created in 1974, invited parishioners to “give up a meal” during Lent and place the money they would have spent into what was then a white bowl…