bishop's lenten appeal

BLA Receives Donations from 40,000 Families

Special to the HERALD
(From the Issue of 12/14/06)

This year, over 40,000 gifts were made to the 2006 Bishop’s Lenten Appeal (BLA). These 40,000+ families and individuals provided tremendous financial support for the work of the Catholic Church in our diocese. These gifts combined together provided over $8.9 million in pledges for this diocesan appeal. These funds provide support to an array of programs, ministries and offices coordinated by the diocese.
Parishes receive support from the BLA each year through the many initiatives that assist them, both directly and indirectly. Funds raised through the BLA provide resources used for the education of our seminarians and for programs that assist women and men seeking to enter the consecrated religious life.
Our diocesan Youth Ministry programs help fulfill the Church’s mission of bringing youth closer to God in their daily lives. The Diocesan Youth Ministry staff works closely with parish youth leaders to develop programs that help integrate young people into the activities of their parish and grow in their faith. The Office of Catholic Schools assists pastors, principals and staff in 44 Catholic schools - with more than 18,500 students - throughout our Diocese. Additionally, the Office of Catechetics provides guidance and assistance to parish-based religious education programs.
These are just a few of the areas that benefit through the generosity of BLA donors. A breakdown of BLA supported programs and initiatives is shown below.
The Bishop’s Lenten Appeal is the main source of funding for our diocesan Church to carry out ministries and programs to those in need and to further the mission of Jesus Christ. As the parishes within our Diocese continue to experience record population growth, it is important that new parishioners help sustain these important diocesan and parish programs by supporting the Bishop’s Lenten appeal each year.
The 2006 appeal received support from over 13,000 new donors who had not previously supported the appeal. Additionally, many past supporters increased their gift to the 2006 BLA. These two factors led to the 2006 Bishop’s Lenten Appeal exceeding its goal by over 27 percent.
Bishop Loverde remarked “I am grateful to God for a supportive and faith filled diocesan family who are willing to share their gifts to help others and bring them closer to Christ.”
The 2007 Bishop’s Lenten Appeal (BLA) will begin in mid-January as support will once again be needed for over 50 different programs and ministries coordinated by the diocese.