Parish ministries benefit from most successful Annual Catholic Appeal

By Gerald Korson

Herald correspondent

 

 

For volunteer Peggy Steele, it’s all about helping people. There is the young Hispanic family who drop by often, always with a few cute kids in tow. An older man, sometimes accompanied by his wife, piles whatever emergency food aid he can fit onto his lap and in the storage area of his wheelchair. Then there’s the young woman who drops by regularly with a baby and a toddler, asking for help in providing for her children.

 

“It’s quite anonymous, and they are all grateful people,” said Steele, who works each Monday assisting needy families at the Food Locker, a ministry of St. Isidore Parish in Yuba City. “We have diapers, too, and that’s a biggie.”

 

The Food Locker is just one of the many social-service efforts that benefit from the 2008 Annual Catholic Appeal in the Diocese of Sacramento, a vital outreach in Christian stewardship that has exceeded all expectations.

 

The numbers tell the story of the 2008 appeal. The $1.9 million raised this year was a 60 percent increase over the total for 2007. More impressively, participation has more than doubled, from 5,062 donors in 2007 to more than 10,500 in 2008 — a 105 percent rise, far greater than the 50 percent increase that diocesan leaders had hoped for.

 

Credit for this successful campaign comes down to three factors: leadership, stewardship and generosity. “Our pastors and pastoral leadership, starting with our bishops, really rolled up their sleeves,” said Mike Halloran, who became diocesan director of stewardship and development in May. This year also saw the diocese implement a more systematic approach to the appeal, he added, encouraging more involvement on the parish level and a bit more emphasis on the advance commitment of larger gifts.

 

The appeal focused mainly on what Halloran called “a more bottom-up approach.” The diocese encouraged each parish to appoint a parish advocate who would assess the needs of area residents and oversee the local distribution of funds. Sixty percent of parishes did so.

 

“We thought where we really needed to expand our leadership is at the parish level, to assist the pastor,” Halloran said. “That is why we put so much emphasis on the parish advocate.”

 

Beth White, associate director for social-service ministry for the diocese, told The Herald that the Annual Catholic Appeal is always based on stewardship, the biblical concept of managing ones’ resources and extending a helping hand to brothers and sisters in need. Those needs and their root causes, she said, are many.

 

“It’s employment, it’s wages not keeping up with the economy, it’s the higher cost of food and gas, the lack of health insurance — it’s a whole variety of things that leave people unable to make ends meet,” she said. “Some families might be experiencing a job loss, for example, that has a ripple effect to the point that their struggle becomes a fight for their very survival.”

 

The fact that the nation’s poor economy affects both the needy and the potential donors makes the unprecedented response to the 2008 appeal from Catholic parishioners so much more remarkable.

“That’s an indication of the generosity of the people in this diocese,” Halloran said. “There’s an additional $800,000 this year that wasn’t there last year.”

 

The funds collected through the appeal are distributed three ways. Fifty percent goes in the form of grants to more than 100 social-service programs throughout the diocese. Twenty-five percent supports local seminarians and the establishment of new parishes in areas of rapid population growth. The other 25 percent is returned to the parishes to help them provide assistance in their respective neighborhoods, both through community programs and their own outreach.

 

At Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Rocklin, those appeal funds are converted to gift cards for local grocery stores or assistance in paying rent or utility bills for struggling families who come seeking help. They also support three local projects that care for the homeless, according to pastoral assistant Linda Blincow. One of these is the Lazarus Project, which offers temporary housing for homeless persons and assistance in finding employment. Another is The Gathering Inn, an ecumenical outreach that provides a place where the homeless can meet and be transported to various host churches that serve a hot meal and provide onsite sleeping quarters on a rotating basis. Saints Peter and Paul Parish plays host usually two to three times each month, Blincow said, and it costs about $200 to feed the 50 to 60 men, women and children who require help each night.

A third program, called What Would Jesus Do?, uses a van to take non-perishable food items to hand out at places where the poor and homeless tend to congregate.

 

“It’s not great, but they get a can of protein, like beans or tuna, perhaps some ramen noodles and canned fruit,” Blincow told the Herald. “It’s basically a meal — maybe two — that they get in a bag. And they can get a few hygiene items, such as shampoo or soap.”

 

In Redding, pastor’s assistant Sharon Plummer oversees Fruits of the Harvest, a ministry of Our Lady of Mercy Parish. What began as a small envelope collection of loose change has grown so large that the Harvest, along with funds from the Annual Catholic Appeal, now gives regular support to the Northern Valley Catholic Social Services and several other community programs.

 

Among these is the Good News Rescue Mission, which feeds and houses the homeless; Women’s Refuge, a shelter for victims of domestic abuse; and LifeLite, which assists women in crisis pregnancies who choose life for their babies. Another funded program is Mexico 2008, which sends members of the parish youth group along with several adult chaperons to Tijuana, Mexico, a couple of times a year to build houses for families in the impoverished town just across the California border.

 

“The adults who go down with them help cook and show them how to use a hammer and other tools,” Plummer said. “The kids are learning construction and getting some good math skills, and it also teaches them the joys of helping other people.”

 

Through the appeal and other fund-raisers, the parish has also contributed to a fund for Ben Humphrey, who is battling a malignant brain tumor. He and his wife, a teacher at one of the area’s Catholic schools, have a young family and are parishioners at Mary Queen of Peace Mission in Shingletown, and the family’s expenses are considerable. Humphrey’s cancer is presently in remission.

 

Amid the nation’s economic woes, tougher times may yet be ahead for everyone. But for development director Halloran, who is presently gearing up for the 2009 Annual Catholic Appeal, the diocesan stewardship campaign will rise to the challenges.

 

“In a tough economy, everyone is affected, especially those who are most marginalized,” he said. “The needs will continue to grow and will always be there. We will also continue to mature our Annual Catholic Appeal in a way to meet those needs.”

 

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