CATHOLIC CHARITIES APPEAL WEEK

                Catholic Charities Appeal Week runs from April 7th to April 14th. This is when Catholic Charities hopes to meet the majority of their goal if not the whole goal. The goal again this year will be $11 million. More than $5 million has already been raised. This is about 50% of the goal.

                The Theme for the appeal this year is “Help your neighbor find HOPE.” The patron saint of the 2019 Appeal is Saint Faustina, a Polish Roman Catholic nun born in 1905 who lived her life in imitation of Christ’s mercy. It is important to support the critical programs and services that Catholic Charities provides to the most vulnerable populations across Western New York. In this way we too can live our lives in imitation of Christ’s mercy.

                The 2019 Appeal will run through June 30th, but Catholic Charities would like to meet as much of their goal as possible during the Appeal, if possible the whole goal. If the goal is reached during the Appeal Week, then Catholic Charities can concentrate on going over their goal.

                Starting this year donors can designate their appeal gift choosing three options. One option is giving to the appeal as in the past. These donations benefit Catholic Charities and the Bishop’s Fund for the Faith. Another option is to give 100 percent of your gift to Catholic Charities. A third option is to give 100 percent of your gift to the Bishop’s Fund for the Faith.

                The goal for St. Louis this year is $116,216.25. $63,765 has already been donated to the 2019 Catholic Charities Appeal through St. Louis. This represents more than 50% of our goal so far. The annual appeal helps fund 70 programs and services administered by Catholic Charities across 61 sites in the eight counties of Western New York, along with a number of programs and ministries that benefit all parishes through the Fund for the Faith. More than 152,000 people benefited from the good work of Catholic Charities in 2018.

                With all of us working together we can achieve our goal and help the Catholic Charities Appeal reach their goal to provide for the many needs of Western New York. Once again we are asking everyone to do what they can to help those in need.