Catholic Charities looking to raise $10 million for needy

With Pope Francis coming in September to Philadelphia, 2015 looks to be a year for Catholics across the region to wear their faith proudly and publicly.

But catching a glimpse of Francis on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at the World Meeting of Families won't put food on the table at local soup kitchens, or pay for the church's schools for blind or mentally retarded children, or provide health care to its retired priests.

For that and more, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia relies on its annual Catholic Charities appeal, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput told a news conference Tuesday, announcing that he had set a goal of $10 million for this year.

"Ten million dollars is a lot of money, anytime, anywhere," he said, noting that this is "the largest single fund-raising event in the archdiocese."

He is setting a high goal, Chaput said, "because we need to raise a lot, and people want to give, especially when they see the reality of where it goes."

Catholic Charities was performing poorly before Chaput arrived in September 2011, said James Quinlan, president of its board of directors, and typically reached just 60 percent of its target.

Better marketing has helped to reverse that trend, according to Quinlan, who said the 2013 and 2014 campaigns both surpassed their $10 million goals. Last year's drive, while not yet audited, raised about $11 million, he said.

A staple of Catholic life for decades in most American dioceses, Catholic Charities typically is not a social-services agency itself, but raises funds for a variety of diocesan social services.

In Philadelphia, the money it collects flows to more than 80 programs, according to the archdiocese, and aids more than 200,000 people a year.

"You don't have to be in the church to be a beneficiary," Chaput said. "No matter who you are, if you have a need that's real and genuine, we want to reach out as best we can."

Among the speakers at the news conference was Courtney Hanes of Mayfair, who said she and her husband, Chris, were "thrilled" with the help that Our Lady of Confidence, a grammar school in Willow Grove for children with developmental delays, had provided to their 11-year-old son, Mick, who has Down syndrome.

"I don't know what we'd do if Catholic Charities did not give us the opportunity to educate Mick," she said, adding that their son had not only grown cognitively beyond their expectations, but was "in an environment with his peers, and they love him."

Packets inviting donations to this year's appeal are to arrive in parishioners' mail in about a week, and pastors have been asked to launch drives in their parishes during the second week of February.

Joseph Sweeney, secretary of Catholic Social Services of Philadelphia and moderator of the news conference, said that the typical donation to the fund drive is about $150.

According to pamphlets being circulated to pastors to help their make appeals to their parishioners, last year's drive contributed:

$4.8 million to "provide clothing, a hot meal, a safe place to sleep" to the homeless and very poor. That included more than 850,000 pounds of food distributed through 40 food pantries.

$1.1 million to four special schools for children who are developmentally delayed, blind, or deaf.

$1.3 million for health care for the retired priests of the archdiocese.

$1 million to support "mission parishes," many in struggling sections of Philadelphia, that cannot support themselves or provide necessary services to their communities.

$300,000 to the Office for Life and Family, which oversees the archdiocese's outreach to people with disabilities and counsels or teaches on such matters as marriage preparation, abortion, homosexuality, natural family planning, and imprisonment.

$400,000 to its Office of Cultural Ministries, which provides special services to immigrants struggling to make new lives in the region.

$1.1 million to the Catholic Foundation of Greater Philadelphia, the no-profit entity that the archdiocese created two years ago to promote charitable giving.