End of the year thanks…
I received three letters in the space of a few days from the Pontifical Mission Societies office of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. (Somebody was busy…) Msgr. Frank Blood thanked St. Ann parish for our generosity to the various mission appeals of this past year. They are:
World Mission Sunday – $1,309
Missionary Cooperative Plan Appeal – $1,840
The Latin American Appeal – $1,081
Each of these collections are ways that we keep spreading the good news of Christ, literally to all the corners of the globe. Bishop Andy Schierhoff used to say: “There is no greater poverty in a parish than when their vision extends only to their parish boundaries.” Thanks for your continued generosity far beyond the boundaries of our neighborhood. You make a huge difference.
Speaking of a huge difference, THE HEAT IS ON. And I am not just talking about the soundtrack to Beverly Hills Cop. The final pieces of the boiler flu arrived and were installed. Conrad Philipp, Dave Marstall and I received a training on the new controls, and other than the heat being TOO effective in the school, we are up and running (and working on dialing it back down a bit in some of the areas of the school…) This was not without a few hiccups. If you can imagine what happens when you change the engine on an old car with a newer, more powerful one, so, too, with the new boiler. There were a few joints and traps and Danfuss valves that needed replacing in the steam piping, which added another $5,109 to the original bid.
But, because of your generosity to this year’s Visitation Drive, we are 88% of the way toward our goal of funding the boiler. The breakdown of the funds which have come in to date:
Grant from the Annual Catholic Appeal – $25,000 St. Ann Sponsor’s Dinner Dance – $25,000 Pastor’s gift – (to get us 1/2 way to the original goal) $X,xxx
Pay it Forward Appeal to Alumni/Friends- $8,000
Visitation Drive – $35,700
Total received to date: $95,290
Thank you for your amazing generosity to this year’s appeal and your willingness to go the extra mile.
Thanks to several donors who gave more than $1,000 to the cause. What a gift that is for us all. And I am still hoping for a rebate from Ameren, pending completion of some paperwork.
And, as an aside, this year, we are going to mail out end of the year statements, including your gift to the
Visitation appeal. I hope this will serve as both a written record for tax purposes and as my word of thanks to one and all for all you do for this great parish of ours.