By Katie Comerford-Rivera
The Catholic Strong Campaign has completed another collection period, and new distributions are available to participating parishes. It has been encouraging to see the good being done thanks to the generosity of the Catholic community of South Jersey. We are proud to announce that $1.57 million is going back to parishes to support the projects displayed in their case statement.
Of the $40.6 million raised, more than $31 million has been collected thus far! To date, the campaign has provided more than $21 million back to parishes for work on their areas of support. Parishes that started their campaigns in 2018 can expect to complete their pledges in 2023 as gifts with the five-year terms of fulfillment come to an end. Those that held their campaign in 2019 will complete their pledge fulfillments in 2024.
We are grateful for every dollar that has been donated to the Catholic Strong Campaign. It has been wonderful to see the progress being made by parishes as they use the funds collected for their capital improvements as well as local spiritual and evangelical needs. This is all made possible by the generosity of parishioners across the Diocese.
The portion of the funds collected for diocesan use is also doing great work. The nearly $9 million collected to date has been used to assist in evangelization efforts, professional development for Catholic school teachers, and mission programming streamed into the homes of the faithful via social media and live presentations.
A copy of the latest distribution report is being mailed to each Catholic Strong donor. If you do not receive this report in the coming weeks, please reach out to the Development Office at 856-583-6134. Donations made to the Catholic Strong Campaign are restricted to the projects outlined by the parishes and cannot be used for any other purpose.
Thank you for all that you do to ensure the Diocese of Camden is Catholic Strong!
Katie Comerford-Rivera is director of development for the Diocese of Camden.