Partners in Charity ends campaign above goal

It was a good year for the annual Partners in Charity Appeal, according to Michael Gillespie, director of the Office of Stewardship and Development. The fund drive finished with $5,076,252 in gifts and pledges, topping the $5 million goal.
Of that total 688 gifts and pledges totaling $115,430 came from new donors. Another $161,111 came from 111 priests. Altogether, the fund drive received 16,454 gifts and pledges, Mr. Gillespie reported.
Another good sign is that more parishes went over goal this year than last year, he said. Sixty-four parishes or missions met or exceeded their goals this year.
A complete listing of parish returns is on Page 10 of this week’s edition.
The campaign ended Aug. 31, the end of the fiscal year.
Last Thursday donors from the Holy Family Society,   St. Paul Society and the St. John Vianney Society were the first to learn of the final tally of the appeal. At a dinner held at Tower Hill Botanical Garden in Boylston, more than 100 people were thanked for their generous contributions.
After Mr. Gillespie announced that the fund surpassed its goal, Bishop McManus thanked the people and noted that the Partners in Charity money comes in and goes out in support of 28 agencies and ministries in the diocese.
The bishop then informed the crowd that his advisers  had told him “we need to do a capital campign.” He introduced the $32 million “Legacy of Hope” campaign which will establish endowments for the other responsibilities the diocese has. A video produced by Guidance in Giving, the company that was hired to run the capital campaign, was presented. The bishop praised the video, which he said “brings together the pastoral life of the diocese.”
“Our responsibility is to take what we have received as a gift and pass it along to our children and grandchildren so they will grow in the life of the faith and be able to know, love and serve God, the way it has been passed on to us,” Bishop McManus said.  

Partners in Charity benefits the following charitable, educational and ministerial agencies and offices:

Clergy Retirement,
Retired Priests Health Ministry,
Catholic Charities,
Haitian Apostolate,
McAuley Nazareth Home,
Pernet Family Health Service,
Seminarian Health Insurance,
St. John Diocesan Cemetery System,
Diocesan Office of Stewardship and Development,

Catholic Campus Ministry,
Catholic Schools Office,
Office of Religious Education,
Ongoing Priestly Formation,
Catholic School Grants-in-Aid,
Seminarian Education,
Advanced Studies for Clergy and Laity, Communications/TV Ministry and Chancellor’s Office,

Pastoral Planning,
African Ministry,
Hispanic Ministry,
Office of Marriage and Family,
Minister to Priests,
Office of the Diaconate,
New Evangelization Worcester for Youth and Young Adults,
Respect Life Office,
St. Paul Cathedral,
Office for Vocations,
Office for Divine Worship.