Nearly 400 donors throughout the Diocese of Camden gave $59,583 to #iGiveCatholic, the U.S. Catholic Church’s national day of giving Nov. 30, Giving Tuesday. Each donation was specifically made to one of the 38 participating parishes, schools and ministries. Gifts will support important programs and projects of those organizations.
“We are very grateful for the support from the community for the Diocese’s first year of #iGiveCatholic. These results are encouraging and will make such positive impact throughout South Jersey,” said Stacy Napolitano, special events producer. “We’re already discussing ideas to help grow the program in 2022.”
One incentive for participation in this year’s event was a little friendly competition with prizes for the parish, school and ministry that secured the highest number of unique donations. The winners were Christ The King Parish, Haddonfield, which will receive a $2,500 reduction in its 2022 HOC goal; Guardian Angels Regional School, Gibbstown/Paulsboro, which earned $1,000 from the South Jersey Scholarship Fund to be used for tuition assistance, and Catholic Charities, Diocese of Camden, which will receive an additional $500 from the diocesan Development Office for its ministry to those in need.
Guardian Angels Regional School, which has two campuses, raised $7,125 from 43 donors toward its STEM program, teaching resources and playground. The school’s campaign was run by Marcie Voight, advancement director.
“Though this was the first year for diocesan-wide participation in Giving Tuesday, our school has participated for several years. It grows each year, and this was our best yet,” Voight said. She added that one of the school’s supporters created a peer-to-peer fundraiser asking friends to support the campaign.
Voight explained that the secret to their success was communicating with parents early in the school year with frequent follow-up. They paid attention to all audiences, highlighting the different ways to give, such as online, checks or through a QR code.
Cheryl Judge, parish secretary and receptionist, administered Christ The King Parish’s #iGiveCatholic campaign, which raised nearly $14,000 from 65 donors. The campaign will help fund renovations to the Morgan Hall restrooms.
“Our pastor, Father Jon Thomas, was great at promoting the campaign from the pulpit. Plus, we had three alumni make videos in support of our #iGiveCatholic campaign, which we posted online and sent out through email,” Judge said. “We’re fortunate to have so many generous donors who responded to the need. I think it helped that Morgan Hall gets so much use and people can see that the renovation is needed.”
From renovations to parish and school facilities, to support for religious education programs, senior ministries, youth programs, retreats, outreach to the poor, pandemic relief, tuition assistance, classroom resources and more, donations to the #iGiveCatholic Giving Day 2021 will enable the Catholic community of South Jersey to make a difference throughout the upcoming year.
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