Bishop Says $550,000 Needed For Charities

Spokane Bishop William Skylstad is urging area Catholics to come up with $550,000 this year to support the church’s charity program.

The church is facing the same soft economy that has left United Way of Spokane County $1 million behind this year with just one week left in its annual money drive.

Skylstad is undaunted.

“Every year the Christmas Appeal is a leap of faith for us,” Skylstad said. “With the increased needs we are seeing because of government cutbacks, I think the parishes will come through.”

At the heart of the drive, which runs through January, are 71 parishes throughout 13 Eastern Washington counties that comprise the Catholic Diocese of Spokane.

Catholic Charities is the largest private charity in the Inland Northwest. Church officials estimate 100,000 people received help last year.

In addition to the half-million dollars that comes from the Christmas Appeal, an additional $130,000 comes from United Way donors who have designated the charity on their pledge cards.

Roughly 40 percent of Catholic Charities’ $2.9 million annual budget comes from the government. Welfare and medical reforms are likely to hit the charity as well as the people it serves, said Donna Hanson, secretary for social ministries at the diocese.

The diocese will ask 24,000 Catholic families to donate. More than a third typically respond, but that’s not enough, Skylstad said.

“There is certainly potential for us to increase our stewardship,” Skylstad said. “I think we should focus on that before looking to the outside community.”

About 8 percent of the donations every year come from non-Catholics.

More than 75 percent of the people who turn to Catholic Charities every year for help are not Catholics, Hanson said.

They are the men who get hot meals and a warm bed for the night at the House of Charity, the single mothers and their children who live at the Guse Summit View apartment complex and the disabled adults who get help with daily living.

Catholics are living out their theology by helping the general population, rather than just fellow Catholics in need, Skylstad said.

“We have to proclaim the principles of social justice and the common good,” he said. “We are called to be witnesses to the Gospel.”

The theme this year, “Is There Room at the Inn Today?” reflects that calling. Jesus Christ, who was born in a stable because there was no room elsewhere, spent his life ministering to the poor and outcast.

Christians everywhere are challenged to follow that example, the bishop said.

Despite the economic hardships in the area, Skylstad thinks local Catholics will come through.

“When times get tight, people tend to be more generous,” he said. “Even the poorest of the poor find a way to give.”

, DataTimes