Hello, I hope everyone is doing well this fall.
As you know we have been including a monthly envelope labeled as Debt reduction. Hopefully you also know that as of August, we have successfully paid all of our parish debt to the Diocese off. This was no small accomplishment on your part. It took many people doing such things as volunteering at the parish thrift stores, fundraisers, and the generous donations of so many of you in those parish envelopes. This is certainly a great accomplishment on your part. I and all the members of the Parish Finance Committee want to say Thank you!! And congratulations!!
Now that we have achieved the goal of paying off old debt, it is time for us to look to the future. We have six buildings which need important capital investment; the parish center needs work done on the roof and it could use some electrical improvements, St. Pius X Church needs new siding, flashing on the windows, LED lighting, work on the roof in the entrance and, oh yes, a new parking lot. These are a few of the items that have been brought to my attention over the past ten years. This will cost us some money for sure, but this is an investment in the future of our parish. To that end, the Parish Finance Committee and myself have decided to continue including an extra monthly envelope in your envelope packages in place of the Debt Reduction envelope. It will be labeled Building Fund. The monies collected in these envelopes will be placed in our Capital improvement Account and used solely for the purpose of making the necessary capital improvements to our properties to enable it to keep going for years to come. I ask your continued generosity and support of our efforts to build and maintain a lively and amazing parish.
Those of you who have contributed to the Legacy of hope Capital Campaign for the Diocese are probably aware that we will be receiving 40% of your contribution to use for our parish capital improvements. We are grateful for your contributions to this campaign. The money raised through Legacy of hope will help our efforts greatly, but they will only total $40,000.00 over the next 4 years and the projects I have listed will most certainly cost more than that. Therefore we have decided to continue the extra envelope every month.
I am also aware that there are members of our parish who are licensed contractors and craftsmen/women who have the skills and ability to do the work we need done. If you might consider offering your services to do some of these jobs at reduced or no costs that would also be helpful. We recently were able to paint the entirely of St. Pius X’s interior upstairs at very little cost due to the services offered by several of our own parishioners.
Our churches have been given to us by our ancestors as monuments of the faith that they celebrated and passed on to us. It is now on us to ensure this inheritance will remain for the years to come. Please be generous in your building Fund donations in the months to come.
Thank you and God Bless you!!