Dear Parishioners of St. Joseph,

“Thank God it’s almost over!” That’s the way just about everyone feels about 2020, I’m sure. It’s been a uniquely challenging time for everyone we know, indeed for everyone in the whole world. One of the great challenges that so many people have faced is financial difficulty, a challenge that has also affected parishes throughout the world due to significantly reduced Mass attendance (following three months of no Mass at all).

Thankfully, the parishioners of St. Joseph have been amazing in their consistent support of our parish! Even during the total shutdown, donations kept rolling in so that the parish avoided serious financial danger. I am deeply grateful. Many parishes are experiencing a sort of financial catastrophe this year; because of your generosity, we are not. But that doesn’t mean that we are out of the woods…

Let me describe our “Covid situation” in a bit more detail. The financial impact of this strange time boils down to three main factors: reduced donations, cleaning supplies cost, and cleaning services cost.

Because our weekend attendance is about half of what it was before Covid, the “loose bills” part of our offering income has dried up quite a bit (unlike our committed givers such as our electronic debit donors). We also have to purchase a large amount of sanitizing supplies every month to spray over all surfaces that may pose a virus transmission danger. These chemicals must be of a specific kind that is approved by the CDC…and the cost of these chemicals adds up over time! Finally, we have had to contract a greater availability of cleaning services to work in our buildings, particularly after any sort of gatherings.

The bottom line is this: since Covid began in March, the financial shortfall from our budgeted “normal” baseline is a deficit of $38,500. I want to ask your help in addressing this shortfall by considering an “Advent Gift” to St. Joseph to make up this loss. Would you consider joining me in making a special one time donation to the parish beyond your regular weekly offering? I have personally begun this campaign myself by giving $100 to get the ball rolling…won’t you join me? As I think of the various gift giving that happens during this season, I am deeply aware that our beloved parish could use a special gift this year and so I ask that you join me in giving a gift to honor St. Joseph during this holy season in which he figures so prominently.

You can easily return your gift by mail or in the collection. I will also be sending out a Flocknote email to you shortly so that you can make an electronic one time donation through our new e-giving partner “GiveCentral” if you prefer the convenience of that method. In either case, I want to thank you for the gift of yourself and of your resources to St. Joseph!