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Almsgiving

- MISSION
  The Faithjustice Almsgiving Committee plans, organizes, and implements our parish Lenten Alms Appeal in collaboration with the Saint Anne Parish Staff. Since 1990, Lent has been the time each year when our sacrificial giving goes to those who have the greatest
  need in our world. We have worked both inside the United States and around the world.
  
  FORMATION
  If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. - Isaiah 58:10
  
  “In our parishes the Eucharist represents a central setting for discovering and expressing our commitment to our brothers and sisters throughout the world…. A parish reaching beyond its own members and beyond national boundaries is a truly ‘catholic’ parish…. Parishes are called to help those who suffer in our own communities and in situations of poverty and pain around the world…. We respond very generously when network news tells us of hurricanes and famines, but will we help those victimized by often less visible disasters of poverty caused by structural injustice such as debt, ethnic conflicts, and the arms trade? Our faith challenges us to reach out to those in need…and to resist the immorality of isolationism. Pope John Paul II reminds us that to turn to ‘selfish isolation’ would not only be a ‘betrayal of humanity’s legitimate expectations…but also a real desertion of a moral obligation.’” - Catholic Bishops, Called To Global Solidarity #6
  
  The word alms comes from the Greek word elenmosyne, meaning mercy. Simply, to give alms means to show mercy. The practice of mercy is rooted in God who is merciful, and we must be too. Each year Lent encourages us to examine how we show mercy and how we cultivate a spirit of generosity. It gives us the chance to share what we have and who we are with other people. It puts us in communion with others and helps us understand that we are all members of the Body of Christ.
- Our Work
  
  Provide parishioners with a CHANNEL each year to which they might direct their sacrificial giving, one of the three practices of Lent. Almsgiving also serves as a time each year to inform parishioners of conditions in other parts of this country and the world that are oftentimes forgotten.
  
  • Each of our appeal is set up so that we receive FEEDBACK and UPDATES on how Saint Anne alms are used to
  to improve the lives of those we assist. Relationships go back decades with those who were helped with alms.
  
  • SUPPORT SOLIDARITY AND DEVLOPMENT WORK in poor communities internationally and nationally by organizing almsgiving. International projects have supported:
- Ways to Help
  
  1. Serving on a seasonal ad hoc committee that is active January through Pentecost each year with periodic meetings
  
  2. Creating print and electronic promotional materials
  
  3. Creating an almsgiving display in the Gathering Space and explaining the appeal to fellow parishioners
  
  4. Organizing and helping host our guest speaker weekend
- International and U.S. Projects
  
  International Projects
  1. Building a latrine house in India
  2. Replacing 25 fishing boats and nets after the tsunami to restore livelihoods
  3. Distributing hygiene kits in Pakistan
  4. Securing bed nets and cisterns in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
  5. Building primary schools and securing greater access to education for DRC girls
  6. Constructing a maternal health clinic in Nakasongola, Uganda
  7. Supporting an orphanage in Guatemala and sponsoring education of orphans
  8. Provisioning home churches in Cuba
  
  US Mainland Projects
  1. Working in migrant camps in Yakima, Washington to set up Mass
  and sacramental programs
  2. Connecting professional musicians and music students from a
  Washington university to bring music to the summer camps for children of migrant workers
  3. Provisioning triage centers after hurricanes and an earthquake in Ponce, Puerto
  Rico
  4. Community building in Penitas, Texas supporting a community center, thrift
  store, and vegetable garden
  5. Funding children’s educational and spiritual programming for migrant children
  in Kalamazoo, Michigan
  6. Supporting border ministries out of the Diocese of El Paso, Texas
  7. Supporting schools and teen mental health services for the Blackfeet Nation in
  Browning, Montana
- Catholic Extension Partnership
  
  A number of Saint Anne parishioners have travelled with Catholic Extension to various mission dioceses to witness the work of Catholic Extension.
  
  This has been part of the group's IMMERSION PROGRAM, funded by the Lily Foundation, for priests, staffs, and lay people, a program that Fr. Bernie Pieterzak and Faithjustice developed with Catholic Extension.
  
  How does Saint Anne Catholic Church work with Catholic Extension?
  
  • Each November-December, the Almsgiving Committee works with our parish staff and Catholic extension to select projects. Our efforts for this Lent were directed at PUERTO RICO where our alms are helping restore the Santa Ana church and other churches and schools in the Diocese of Arecibo that was damaged by Hurricane Maria in (2017), Earthquake Swarm (2019), and Hurricane Fiona (2022).
  
  • The Almsgiving Committee reaches out to the Saint Anne Community, to Saint Anne School, and to our Faith Formation community with information and envelopes starting on Ash Wednesday and continuing through Lent.
  
  • Later in Lent, our parish hosts a speaker weekend in collaboration with Catholic Extension. The speaker is someone identified by Extension who has first-hand knowledge of the project that we are supporting. He or she speaks at all Masses, to our schoolchildren, and to the adult community. This year we will host Sr. Yelitza, who is from Puerto Rico. She spoke here 8 years ago, and is a great CUBS fan, thanks to the contributions then of fellow Puerto Rican Javier Baez. This year’s speaker weekend was scheduled for April 5-7.
  
  • The Saint Anne Catholic Church model of Lenten Almsgiving is now used by Catholic Extension across the United States.