Fundraising

Fr. Ronald Bowers, Vice Rector Emeritus of the St. Paul Seminary, often commented that money is a reality with which even the Church has to contend.  This fact has impressed itself upon me in a particularly concrete way in the last few months.

I have somehow managed to convince twenty-four of the high school students of my parish to attend the Steubenville Youth Rally in Rochester, Minnesota.  The cost of the event for our group is $285 per student.  They were required to pay an initial deposit with the promise that I would help them raise money for at least some portion of the remainder.  As a result, I spend a great deal of time plotting ways to separate my parishioners from their cash.  Soups suppers during Lent were great.  A Caramel Roll sale made a huge profit.  Pie sales in the fall seem likely.  Car washes, bake sales, and talent shows are all in the works.  I spent part of this evening working out the details of such a fundraiser with a mother who lives near the Church.  Thanks be to God there are dedicated and motivated mothers who make all of these things happen.

The thing about asking people for money, though, is that it gives perspective to the current economic difficulties.  I am well provided for.  I don't have to worry about housing, insurance, food, and other necessities of life.  I live rather comfortably.  I do not consider myself to be overly generous, nor am I miserly.  Nevertheless, to suddenly have money (a reality uncommon during my seminary days) helps me to realize just how hard it can be to give it up regardless of the worthiness of the cause.  So, thank you to all of you who have ever helped a young person go somewhere and do something they would not have been able to do otherwise.  It does more good than you know.