Catholic Charities Way Ahead Christmas Appeal Doubles Donations So Far, Bucking Downward Trend Of Other Local Drives

United Way faltered and the Christmas Fund is struggling, but Catholic Charities’ annual Christmas Appeal has collected twice as much money when compared to last year.

“This is very good news,” said Mary Ann Heskett, fund drive coordinator at the Catholic Diocese of Spokane. “We are cautiously optimistic at this point.”

As of noon Monday, people donated $226,000 to Catholic Charities, compared to $103,570 at the same point in 1994.

Even more promising, the average donation is $103, up from $87 last year, Heskett said.

If the trend holds, Catholic Charities easily should reach its goal of $550,000.

Diocesan accountants aren’t sure how reliable the comparisons to previous years are. Letters were mailed out to loyal supporters a week earlier this year, so more people may have mailed their donations in early.

The biggest chunk of money comes from donations given during Christmas Mass at the 81 parishes in Eastern Washington. The final numbers won’t be counted until January, Heskett warned.

“This certainly isn’t bad news,” she said. “We just need to be careful not to place too much emphasis on the early numbers.”

The largest private charity in the Inland Northwest, Catholic Charities helped roughly 100,000 people last year. The bulk of people receiving help are non-Catholics. The Christmas Appeal represents almost 20 percent of the charity’s $2.9 million budget.

The money goes to dozens of human services, including counseling, the House of Charity shelter for men, intensive parenting classes at St. Anne’s Children’s Home, St. Margaret’s shelter for women and children, housing for elderly people and single mothers, refugee resettlement, support services for single parents and in-home assistance for elderly.

Charity managers can’t account for the increase in donations this year, while other annual money drives like United Way of Spokane County and The Spokesman-Review’s Christmas Fund stumble.

“I don’t know what people want to hear,” Heskett said. “We get mixed messages.”

One person wrote to say he couldn’t donate to Catholic Charities because he didn’t approve of money being spent on refugees when so many Americans need help. Another person wrote to say she was sending money to Bosnia this year instead.

One woman sent in $250 and a letter to Bishop William Skylstad thanking God for a 20-year marriage, two healthy children and a loving family.

, DataTimes