By Susan Bailey |  CFP Correspondent

Robert Pape and Ann Gibbons-Smith were met with what seemed to be an insurmountable challenge: conducting key fundraising activities for their non-profit organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were soon to find out just how dedicated and generous the public could be.
Mr. Pape heads the Adopt-a-Student program in the Diocese of Worcester. For the last 30-plus years this organization has offered financial aid to deserving students who wish to attend a Catholic  school, even if their parents could not afford the tuition. Adopt-a-Student is entirely dependent upon donations.
Mr. Pape explained how such money is used.
“Normally when we take someone into the program, assuming they perform up to their abilities, we give them a full or a half scholarship and that’s for the four diocesan central schools,” he said. On average about 40 students receive some sort of financial aid each year. They attend St. Peter Central Catholic Elementary School or one of the three Central Catholic high schools, St. Peter-Marian, Holy Name or St. Bernard’s.
One of two major fundraisers, a dinner for the students, had been scheduled for April 2 but was cancelled due to the pandemic. Those who had planned to attend came through with financial help.
“People were very generous and had made donations to (attend) the dinner,” Mr. Pape said. “They suggested that we retain their donations even though we didn’t have the dinner. As a result, we raised just about as much money as we would have had we had the dinner. So that was very rewarding.”
Adopt-a-Student raised nearly $50,000.
Mr. Pape is hopeful that their second major fundraiser, a golf tournament scheduled for later this summer, will go on as planned.
More information can be found at https://adopt-a-student.net, where you also can make a donation.

WALK FOR HOMELESS

Ann Gibbons-Smith from the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance faced a dilemma with the organization’s signature Walk for the Homeless, scheduled for May 17; it was to be their 35th annual walk.
“Every year the walk benefits homeless prevention programs such as Mass. Housing, St John’s Food for the Poor, Catholic Charities Family Shelter, Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Worcester and Friendly House,” said Ms. Gibbons-Smith.
Normally the co-chairs, Father John Madden, pastor of St. John Parish, Worcester, and Kevin O’Sullivan, visit schools, businesses and churches to raise awareness about homelessness in the community and how the various agencies working with CMHA serve them.
“So, the walk really is two-fold,” Ms. Gibbons-Smith said. “It’s about education and awareness, and also about raising funds for these benefactors of our neighborhoods.”
With the lockdown preventing such interactions, along with the walk itself, a new approach became necessary.
“We decided to do a virtual walk – anyone can walk May 1st through May 31st,” said Ms. Gibbons-Smith. “They don’t even have to walk, or they could walk 5 miles, they could walk 2 miles, they can walk around the house, they can walk around the yard. But they dedicate their walk to the annual Walk for the Homeless and with that they can make a donation on our website, walkforthehomeless.org.”
The initiative has, so far, proven very successful, thanks to outreach from the different agencies using social media and word of mouth.
“I am so moved by the generosity in the community and the genuine kindness,” said Ms. Gibbons-Smith. “Let’s be honest – we are in a crisis. There are so many people in our community that have been touched by this, whether they have been sick or a family member has been sick. And then, through even all that, people are still coming on board supporting this. And not only supporting this, but they are probably also supporting all these other good events and charities that need assistance.”
Ms. Gibbons-Smith stressed the need for the public to know that all of these organizations are still up and running despite the lockdown.
“We are not shutting down; the need is still here,” she said.
There is great concern about what will happen when the state-mandated moratorium on evictions ends. The moratorium went into place in April, after a state of emergency was declared due to the pandemic. It has enabled people who are having difficulty meeting their rent or mortgage payments to delay payment. Ms. Gibbons-Smith believes the community will be hit hard when the moratorium ends.
She was reminded of a story of a woman who drove by the Central Mass. Housing office seven times before she found the courage to go in, commenting that, “I never thought it was going to be me.” Ms. Gibbons-Smith added, “Do you know how many ‘me’s’ there are going to be? We are going to see so many people … (who) never thought they would need help. People are losing their jobs, getting sick, the economy is tanking, people are scared. They can’t afford to pay their rents, they can’t afford to pay their utilities, can’t afford to pay their mortgages. This is tough.”
And yet the people she comes in contact with through her work give her hope.
“People are so good. This moved me – I was at one of our shelters recently; we operate five family shelters. The doorbell rings and every single morning somebody from the Worcester Public Schools drops off lunches and activities for the kids. Seriously, how awesome is that?”
Nurses from the school system also did their part.
“They made all these handmade soaps and included a note saying: ‘The Worcester Public School Nurses made these and are thinking of you.’ They put a smiling face on each one. It was just so thoughtful.”

Visit https://www.cmhaonline.org/ for information on how to donate. Checks may also be mailed to Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance, 6 Institute Road, PO BOX 3, Worcester, MA 01609.
 

Emmanuel Radio adds listeners

By Susan Bailey |  CFP Correspondent

No pandemic or government lockdown can silence Catholic radio, at least according to Cindy Dorsey, president of Emmanuel Radio.
“You can’t stop us. No state order can stop you from praising the Lord and honoring Mary,” Ms. Dorsey said.
Because of Gov. Charlie Baker’s lockdown order in March, Emmanuel Radio shut its studio doors to the public and Ms. Dorsey created a studio in her home.
“We disassembled everything and relocated it to my home. During these last nine weeks there has been an incredible surge in people who are looking for hope, trying to revisit God, looking for positive programming, wanting to pray more. And so, all those things gave us a huge lift in Catholic radio,” she said.
Even as Emmanuel Radio – which broadcasts on 1230 AM, 970 AM and 101.1 FM – experienced this uptick in listenership, the station faced financial challenges.
“We had to cancel three of our revenue fundraising opportunities including the major one, the Spring Pledge Drive,” Ms. Dorsey said.
In a bold move, Emmanuel Radio expanded from audio to video using their website and Facebook page.
“I’ve been spending the last nine weeks giving everybody in the Diocese of Worcester video Masses from inside of their closed churches with the pastors they can’t be with,” she said. “Out of that, we just got an incredible amount of new listeners who are appreciating that since they had no way to find their Mass or see their pastor. And now they can. So that has been a wonderful opportunity.”
Ms. Dorsey started yet another initiative to meet the spiritual needs of her listeners while also raising the revenue needed to keep the station running. She invited her listeners to make a spiritual bouquet prayer request along with a pledge to the station.
“Because new listeners have found Catholic radio, they can make a request and we will have all those prayers prayed for at Mass. That has been something that people have been very open to,” she said.
As a result, Emmanuel Radio continues.
“We have been sustained by going from audio to video, bringing people their own parishes and their own pastors, kicked in the spiritual bouquet and we’ve been able to survive and sustain ourselves for not only our regular listeners but our new listeners,” Ms. Dorsey said.
Emmanuel Radio also carries the video of the EWTN daily Mass at 8 a.m. along with all the special services from Rome.
“We have been working round-the-clock just having to be creative about how we deliver the good news and get out to the people,” she said.
Ms. Dorsey has received requests from listeners to continue the video Masses even as churches are opening up.
“Emmanuel Radio has a large audience of seniors who want to stay home and only have what we’ve been offering. We’ll see what pastors and priests want to do,” she said.
“God has a way of delivering himself to anyone who wants to receive him and that’s what we’ve been busy doing,” she said. “It’s time for people to come back and find the Church again. That was a great opportunity here,” she said.

All the aforementioned videos can be found at Emmanuel Radio’s website, 1230radio.com, and their Facebook page, facebook.com/1230radio/.