Dear Friends,

The Bishop’s annual Charity and Development Appeal (CDA) campaign begins this week. If you are new to the Church, each year the Bishop seeks to raise funds that will support many of the charitable outreaches of the Diocese, provide assistance to schools and parishes in very poor circumstances and train seminarians for the priesthood. For a number of years, I was part of the CDA Allocations Committee, which assigns CDA funds to organizations seeking grants. From that experience, I can assure you that each and every dollar raised is used to support over 70 ministries and charitable organizations such as St. Vincent de Paul, Catholic Charities, Maggie’s Place, Aid to Women’s Center, First Way, the Nazareth House (our seminarian formation center), outreach to the elderly and our schools on the Indian Reservations. Your generous donation makes it possible for these groups to continue their spiritual and corporal works of charity.