Happy Sunday Good People!
Fr. Francis Di Spigno, OFM,
Pastor
Thank you for welcoming John McCrone last weekend. I think the Fix-It Program is a win-win for everyone. He was very impressed by our parish and your response. In his thank you note to me he wrote, “I've received 3 calls from potential volunteers and one call for assistance. The ratio at your parish is upside down compared to the other parishes where I have made appeals. We normally would get 1 volunteer and three calls for assistance. You have a wonderful congregation that want to help those in need. Based on my experience in doing this, they are unique. Bravo, and thank you and your parishioners.” I don’t know about you, but I’m not surprised. You are a wonderful congregation and we do have a great community! Bravo to you!
Continuing with those kudos, in last week’s bulletin I said I would share the details of the Christmas 2021 Giving Fund. Once again, you showed your true colors! Your generous response to the Christmas 2021 Giving Fund [2021 CGF] totaled, $244,950. To our parishioners and to all the friends of St. Francis Parish who contributed to this year’s 2021 CGF THANK YOU!! Your generous spirit is truly amazing, but wait. It gets better!
You may recall when I gave the report last year I had a question about how the 2020 CGF might affect the actual Christmas collection. As already shared, last year’s Christmas collection was $86,007. That was $132 shy of the year before. So no, the additional collection really did not affect the Christmas collection. A fun piece to note about that, one parishioner, after reading the bulletin, sent me a check for $132 to make up the difference. Isn’t that something? The goodness of people.
Of course, that question was there again this year, but knowing you, I wasn’t too concerned. And I didn’t have to be! This year our Christmas collection was $105,101. Wowie – as Sr. Kate used to say! That is the largest Christmas collection we’ve had in a very long time, if not ever! Thank you, Thank you!
You have probably noticed in the weekly bulletin that our weekly collections continue to fall short of what we budget to collect on a given weekend, but your generosity with the 2021 CGF and the Christmas collection absolutely helped us move in the right direction. I recently met with Stacey Kelsall, our comptroller, for a mid-year budget review. We are both much more confident after these two collection. We may still not end up in the black by the end of the fiscal year [having a blizzard on a Saturday night didn’t help!] but we are definitely much closer to a zero balance than the November predictions. I will keep you posted as we move forward, but I cannot thank you enough for your continued generosity of your time and your donations to our great parish. We are a great parish. Thank you for helping to make it so!
May God continue to bless you and your families. You are a blessing to St. Francis Parish and the world.
Peace and All Good!
Fr. Francis J. Di Spigno, OFM
Pastor
NB: Please note that the final list of the 2021 Perfect Light Society is published on our website and Facebook page