Bishop's Appeal Matching Grant for Newman Hall/Holy Spirit Parish

Parishioner shares his good fortune,  offers Bishop’s Appeal matching grant
for Newman Hall/Holy Spirit parish.

By Michele Jurich
The Catholic Voice

Father Ivan Tou, CSP, like his brother pastors around the Diocese of Oakland, set out to begin the Bishop’s Appeal 2021 on a positive note.

In the Newman Hall/Holy Spirit Parish bulletin and on the website, he invited parishioners to contribute to the appeal, highlighting  how the appeal assists the Berkeley parish:

“The diocese does wonderful things for us like assist with our RCIA and Confirmation rites, provide resources for faith formation, pay for half our FOCUS bill, handle our staffing human resources, and support social justice activities like the immigration legal clinic, the shelter for girls trapped in human trafficking, and outreach to refugees.”

The pastor has a couple of challenges: This is the parish of Cal students. University students generally don’t have the ability to make donations.  On top of that, not many students are taking classes on campus during the pandemic.

The diocese’s contribution for the FOCUS missionaries, who serve the students, is an example of the diocese’s support of the students.   

The Paulists, as religious order priests, have their own appeals, which parishioners have grown accustomed to supporting over the years. The Paulists, after all, have more than a century of service serving the Berkeley campus community, the last 50 at the corner of College Avenue and Dwight Way.

The Newman community, Father Tou knew, had not met its Bishop’s Appeal goal in the past six years. The parish reached 60 percent of its goal in the 2020 appeal.

The 2021 goal of $39,500 looked to be a long way away until a parishioner approached the pastor. “I notice you want to make the goal,” he told the pastor. 

“Evidently 2020 was a good year for people who owned stocks,” Father Tou said.  “This parishioner did amazingly, surprising well.”  Father Tou recalled the conversation:  “I want to help the parish and the diocese. What if we did a matching fund?”  The parishioner, who has asked to remain anonymous,  offered up to $20,000 in matching funds – more than halfway to the goal.  Father Tou sees this  as “a  good motivator for parishioners to give. This is the one time we can make our goal, so  let’s aim for that.”  An additional blessing from the benefactor’s offer is that a student has become interested in mobilizing  student participation in the Bishop’s Appeal, matching themselves with parishioners.

“It’s a win-win,” Father Tou said. “Any time we can get students and parishioners to work together, it’s always a good thing for the community. It will be good for the diocese and for the students to feel they are helping the diocese in a way they can.”
To be eligible for the matching grant, donations must be received in the month of March.

Within the first weeks of the appeal, donations totaling $4,270 had been credited toward the goal.
Donations may be  made:

1. Through the diocesan website: oakdiocese.org/bishops-appeal Select Newman Hall/Holy Spirit Parish and donate by March 14.
2. Send a check using the Bishop's Appeal envelope that can be found on the literature rack at Newman Hall by March 31.
3. Electronically through our FaithDirect  (by March 14) or VENMO accounts. Just make sure to put in the note, "Bishop's Appeal"
4. Send a check to Newman Hall-Holy Spirit Parish by March 31.  Just make sure to address the check, "Bishop's Appeal" or to put in the note "Bishop's Appeal." The address is 2700 Dwight Way, Berkeley CA 94705.