A 50 year run for organizers of parish’s annual appeal

By Bill Doyle
CFP Correspondent

In 1974, Msgr. David C. Sullivan, pastor at St. Peter Parish at the time, asked Helen Fitzgerald and Eugene McCarthy to co-chair the parish’s annual appeal for what was then called the Bishop’s Fund.

Fifty years later, Miss Fitzgerald and Mr. McCarthy, both 86, are still running the parish’s appeal for what is now called Partners in Charity.

“She keeps the records and I count the money, but Helen was really the boss,” Mr. McCarthy said. “I kind of followed along and did what she wanted me to do. She’s much more organized than me.”

The parish reaches its goal every year. This year, St. Peter Parish met its target of $50,600 and its mission, St. Andrew the Apostle, reached its goal of $12,400.

“The people are great,” Mr. McCarthy said. “They didn’t have a lot of money, a lot of them. We got a lot of $2, $5 gifts and that was fine. Whatever they felt they could do, that’s all we wanted.”

“Helen is so ecstatic that they reached their goal,” said Michael Gillespie, director of the Office of Stewardship and Development for the diocese who has overseen the annual appeal for Partners in Charity for more than 15 years. “She’s so parish proud.”

So how has Miss Fitzgerald remained motivated to run the annual campaign at St. Peter?

“It’s one of my favorite charities,” she said. “There is so much good that comes from being part of Partners in Charity. So, so many people benefit from it. So why wouldn’t it be one of my favorite charities?”

When Partners in Charity wanted to present Miss Fitzgerald and Mr. McCarthy with awards for their service several years ago, neither chose to attend the ceremony. Msgr. Francis Scollen, St. Peter pastor, ended up giving them their awards at the church.

“I don’t think you need recognition if you do something that you love and something that benefits other people,” Miss Fitzgerald said. “That’s the reward you get.”

“That’s the style of the parish,” Msgr. Scollen said. “People don’t publicize themselves. It’s a very dedicated bunch of people who continue on doing a lot of good.”

Miss Fitzgerald’s mother, also named Helen, helped out with the appeal into her late 90s. She passed away in 2007 at age 104.

Back when Miss Fitzgerald and Mr. McCarthy became co-chairs, parishioners volunteered to go door-to-door on a designated Sunday to ask for donations.

“Can you imagine doing that today? Times have changed,” Miss Fitzgerald said.

These days, parishioners receive mailings explaining that Partners in Charity supports 26 ministries and agencies in the Worcester Diocese. Msgr. Scollen’s letter about the annual campaign and a return envelope are also handed to parishioners as they leave Mass. Notices about Partners are posted in the parish bulletin.

The annual campaign began in the diocese as the Bishop’s Fund in 1961 and has raised nearly $190 million since. This year’s goal for the diocese is the same as in recent years, $5 million. The goal hasn’t been reached since 2018, partly because of the pandemic, but the annual appeal has come close.

Miss Fitzgerald has said for each of the last few years that she plans to step down, but she insists that this year she means it. Mr. McCarthy said he will probably follow her into retirement from Partners.

Msgr. Scollen is retiring on June 30 as pastor of St. Peter Parish and St. Andrew the Apostle Mission after 35 years. Father Jose Rodriguez, current pastor at Holy Family of Nazareth Parish in Leominster, will replace Msgr. Scollen as pastor on July 1. He served as associate pastor at St. Peter’s many years ago.

Father Rodriguez helped Holy Family reach its Partners goal this year.

Msgr. Scollen will retire as pastor, but remain at the parish to minister.

“I couldn’t just retire totally,” he said. “I’m too jumpy, but it will be great.”

Msgr. Scollen can’t simply sit back and relax.

“Well, I haven’t done it in 55 years,” he said. “So I’m going to try to go into it slowly and see what happens.”

On June 11, St. Brigid Parish in Millbury reached its goal of $60,000, the earliest in Father Daniel Mulcahy’s decade as pastor.

Usually, the goal is reached just before the campaign ends on Aug. 31. Father Mulcahy said he was “amazed” the goal was reached so soon.

What makes it amazing is that Father Mulcahy usually begins talking about Partners in Charity in keeping with Lenten almsgiving, but Ash Wednesday was early this year, on Feb. 14. So St. Brigid and Our Lady of the Assumption in Millbury, where he is also the pastor, didn’t begin their Partners in Charity campaigns until late April, well after Easter.

Nevertheless, Assumption also surpassed its goal of $20,400 in mid-May.

“I’m thrilled that we hit our target,” Father Mulcahy said. “It’s good for the spirit of the parish.”

The diocese sets the parish goals and they haven’t changed in a number of years.

At every Mass during the campaign, Father Mulcahy provides Partners in Charity updates. He, Deacon Ronald Buron and the staff all push Partners in Charity.

Father Mulcahy lets his parishioners know that he also gives to Partners.

“I always tell people I try to put my money where my mouth is,” he said, “and I talk about what I’m going to give or what I’m going to pledge.”

“It’s very profound when a priest tells his parishioners that they made a gift,” Mr. Gillespie said.

Father Mulcahy holds up a Partners in Charity envelope each week and tells the parishioners how the parish stands and asks them to join their sisters and brothers throughout the diocese in helping others.

The Partners in Charity campaign to raise $5 million doesn’t end until Aug. 31.
Father Mulcahy still has Partners in Charity envelopes on both altars, and he plans to continue to talk about the campaign.

Mr. Gillespie said a significant number of parishioners have resumed supporting Partners in Charity after completing their pledges to the Legacy of Hope campaign.

The three-year Legacy of Hope campaign to repair aging churches and other parish buildings, fund priests’ retirement and custodial care, support Catholic education and fund parish-based charitable outreach ended in 2022 after meeting its goal of $32 million in pledges. However, some parishioners still have two or three years remaining to pay off their pledges.

The Partners in Charity campaign still has more than two months to go and Mr. Gillespie said the diocese depends on the parishes to keep promoting it.

“If the message is not reaching our donors and they’re not hearing the invitation to make a gift and they don’t see the fruits of their gifts, many people may not give,” Mr. Gillespie said.

“Ultimately, it’s how is it being promoted at the parish level? Direct mail from the Bishop is wonderful, but nothing beats hearing a message of invitation from their local parish. What Partners can do collectively is profound and that’s why we really need all the parishes to support it.”

If the $5 million goal isn’t reached, the diocese must tap into an emergency fund that was donated to Partners in Charity for such shortfalls. That emergency fund has dwindled, however, because Partners in Charity hasn’t reached its goal in recent years.