CHARITY AND DEVELOPMENT APPEAL 2010

CDA kicks off this weekend with $10 mil goal

Organizers hope to increase number of participants

As the 2010 Charity and Development Appeal gets underway this weekend in the diocese, organizers are praying that Catholics realize just how crucial their contributions are to the work of the local Church.

Typically, only about a third of Catholics in the diocese have contributed to the CDA. Organizers are hoping for far greater participation this year.

They want people to know that without funds from the CDA, many of the more than 70 charitable organizations and ministries that serve the poor and suffering in the Phoenix Diocese would have to close their doors.

Gena McGowan is principal of St. Matthew Catholic School, deep in the heart of a struggling neighborhood near 19th Avenue and Van Buren.

“We serve the poorest of the poor,” McGowan said. “That’s our call as Catholic Christians.”

Without funding from the CDA, McGowan is certain the school wouldn’t survive. She said that most of the 185 students’ parents are working two minimum-wage jobs just to keep a roof over the family’s heads. Some of them do yard work or cleaning in the evenings, too.

“A school like St. Matthew’s gives children who otherwise wouldn’t have a chance at the American dream, the opportunity to succeed,” McGowan said.

Related: New co-chairs hope to increase CDA awareness among families

MaryBeth Mueller, superintendent of Catholic Schools, agreed.

“Some of these schools in our diocese couldn’t operate without help from the CDA,” Mueller said.

Over at the Aid to Women Center in Tempe and 1st Way Pregnancy Center in Phoenix, it’s a similar story.

Kay Allen, who directs both clinics, said that CDA funding helps keep the doors open. The facilities serve women who are facing crisis pregnancies.

“It’s the most important grant we receive,” Allen said of the CDA funding for the two clinics. “We could never afford a nurse to do the ultrasounds without the CDA.”

Last year, 560 ultrasound exams were performed at 1st Way. Allen said that 90 percent of women who see the image of their baby cannot go through with an abortion.

For Kevin Starrs, who works in the office of prison ministries for the Phoenix Diocese, the funding received by the CDA brings hope to prisoners.

“Without the CDA, we couldn’t do this,” Starrs said. The Catholic prison ministry cares for the thousands of people incarcerated in the state’s multiple prisons.

“We provide Catholic services for everybody in jail and we also do outreach with kids whose parents are in prison,” Starrs said. “You can’t put a price tag on it.”

Getting the word out

Churchgoers will learn more about the CDA during Masses this weekend before being asked to make a commitment during Masses Feb. 13-14. Most will watch this year’s CDA video that features Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted and a number of priests from around the Diocese of Phoenix. Each explains how the CDA provides much needed support for the entire diocese.

The goal for last year’s appeal was $10.2 million. For the 2010 CDA, the goal is set at $10 million, but the aim is to involve more participants than ever before.

Katie McLaughlin, director of the diocesan Office of Stewardship, said that while many people cannot give larger contributions this year due to the economic downturn, there’s plenty of room for more participation in the CDA.

“Our area of focus this year is to ask that more people give,” McLaughlin said. “That can really make a difference in the community.”

New to the appeal last year was the addition of prayer request cards. More than 25,000 prayer requests were received and blessed by Bishop Olmsted at a special Mass.

The prayer request campaign offered hope to the community and was so successful that it will be included in the 2010 appeal as well. Prayer cards will be distributed to the parishes in late April and May and Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted will celebrate a Mass for those intentions May 25.

Fr. Paul Sullivan, vocations director for the diocese, said that by contributing to the CDA and the formation of priests, Catholics can help ensure that the faith is handed on to future generations.

“The CDA provides support for vocations to the priesthood as well as for the education and formation of our seminarians,” Fr. Sullivan said.

CDA helps local poor

Fr. Gregory Schlarb, vicar of stewardship for the Diocese of Phoenix, said that in the last few weeks, Catholics’ attention has understandably been drawn to the devastation wrought by Haiti’s earthquake. A special collection to help the temblor’s victims was taken up at most parishes Jan. 17.

In contrast to aid given following a natural disaster, the CDA attends to the pressing, ongoing needs of those who live right here in Arizona.

“Although yes, our attention is being directed towards Haiti, we still have that need here and so people need to be reminded constantly that there are poor and needy within our own community,” Fr. Schlarb said. “Some are just trying to get a leg up. Sometimes it’s impossible for them and they rely on these ministries supported by the CDA.”

Patrick and Julie Nackard, the 2010 CDA co-chairs, say they hope more people than ever will support the needs of the diocese through the CDA.

Patrick said that as owner of a wholesale beverage distribution company, he knows what it takes to make $10 million, the goal for this year’s appeal. He also knows just how crucial that funding is to the local Church.

“The CDA is the umbrella that keeps every project in the diocese alive,” Patrick said. “This is the one campaign that funds the ministries of the entire diocese.”