According to a news item on dor.org, as of March 31 the Diocese of Rochester had collected a total of $380,000 of the $500,000 it needs to raise in order to qualify for a $2 million grant from the Wegman Family Charitable Foundation. The combined $2.5 million would be used to fund a tuition assistance program which would enable children from poor families to attend Catholic schools.
An earlier Channel 10 story reported that the diocese had already raised about $320,000 from private donors prior to taking its campaign to the people in the pews. A letter from Bishop Clark was to be read from all Monroe County pulpits on the weekend of March 7-8 and collections were taken up on both that and the following weekend.
DOR's current update indicates that those collections netted approximately $60,000.
The diocese is still some $120,000 short of its target and it is unclear at this point how it intends to close that gap in the 12 weeks remaining before the June 30 deadline.
According to a post on the Catholic Courier site,
Those wishing to contribute directly may mail a check made out to "Diocese of Rochester Challenge" to: Sister Janice Morgan, Pastoral Center, 1150 Buffalo Road, Rochester, NY 14624.
15 comments:
Seriously, after what he did to our 13 schools, did he really expect an overwhelming response to this appeal?
Bishop Clark should resign. He has no credibility as a shepherd with the real Catholics in the Diocese.
After the closing of the 13 schools, the renovation of the Cathedral, ad nauseum, lost any credibility that he will properly manage or use the funds.
What about lower middle class students? Any help for the most forgotten group in the country?
By the way, I agree Cpt. Tom. Bishop Clark's departure will be a blessing, and usher in a golden age for the Diocese of Rochester.
CPT Tom,
I've had a special T-shirt made up. It has two simple lines of text which say,
July 15, 2012
End of an Error
(Wanna guess who turns 75 on that date?)
Sorry, Dr. K., but I only ordered one and it's a size XL.
Wear the shirt to Rosary next Thursday - maybe this could be your next career!
Of course the bishop didn't expect to get the necessary money in this appeal. Now he has his excuse for the next round of closures, there isn't any support throughout the diocese for Catholic education.
I guess all those people who lamented the fate of the poor in this new plan for the schools weren't really concerned for the students' welfare.
It's the same mentality as those who say, "I don't send my kids to Catholic Schools, why should my collection money be used to support them instead of my parish?"
CathMom
CathMom, I think it's not so much that there is no desire to help poor families, but a complete mistrust of this diocese's ability to use the money wisely. Just our luck, he would collect the money and lo and behold more schools would close.....
Gretchen,
I just may do that.
CathMom & Anon. 1:29,
I somewhat reluctantly wrote a check.
Yes, DOR has a dismal record when it comes to managing its Catholic schools. There is no way I could justify giving those bunglers a single dollar without first seeing some massive changes at the top. Perhaps sometime after 7/15/2012 ...
However, I have some faith that the Wegmans people will have enough strings attached to their grant and will exercise enough oversight to ensue that all the funds are used for their intended purpose.
In general, I just feel queasy giving money to the diocese. We cut back our financial contributions to our church and the diocese. Obviously I feel a need to contribute at least somewhat, but not too much because I don't want to cooperate with evil. Instead, we upped our contributions to orthodox catholic teaching - like Catholic Answers, EWTN, Stations of the cross, etc.
I too had trouble writing a check, but I figured a "directed gift" was better than giving to the appeal, which he has full discretion over.
CathMom
Send a copy of this column to Danny Wegman and ask him to keep an eye on the money trail and make sure that it is spent in the best interest of the Catholic students. He needs to hear from us, even if it is a short anonymous note.
I have been told for years, that Danny is very upset with the way that Bishop Clark spends money, donated by the "parishioners".
Follow the money trail in your parish and in the diocese.
Diocese of Rochester employees, are you listening?
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