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The Church of the Annunciation in Ilion got a little boost toward meeting its 2015 Bishop's Appeal assessment: An anonymous parishioner offered to match up to $2,500 in other parishioners' gifts to the appeal.

The annual Bishop's Appeal campaign supports a host of the Albany Diocese's ministries and services, from Catholic Charities to schools, faith formation and vocations. Low-income students are able to afford tuition at Catholic schools through Bishop's Appeal donations; even the diocesan Information Technology department that helps with parishes' computer issues gets funding through the appeal.

Jane North has been overseeing the Bishop's Appeal pledges made by Annunciation parishioners for at least a decade. She said she started helping with the appeal when her mother was a part-time secretary at the parish.

The recent anonymous matching gift offer was "definitely generous," she said. Each parish in the Diocese is assessed a certain amount that must be collected for the appeal; any shortfall between what parishioners donate and the amount of the assessment comes out of the parish's operating expenses.

Annunciation's assessment for the Bishop's Appeal was about $46,000, said Mrs. North -- and at the time the matching gift offer was made, "we were down close to $7,000" toward the parish's goal.

Parishioners came forward to pitch in toward the matching gift, raising $1,750 that the donor matched. Some had already pledged, but added to their donation: "My sister ended up sending another donation of $50," Mrs. North told The Evangelist.

Thomas Prindle, director of development for the Diocese, said the matching gift idea is "not common, but has happened in other parishes, as well -- and it's worked."

One parish, he recalled, had a shortfall in meeting its assessment until a donor offered to make up the difference if parishioners raised half the money that was needed. People came forward, and the shortfall was erased.

Mr. Prindle noted that some area businesses also honor matching gift requests, including Verizon, Time Warner Cable, McDonald's restaurants and Key Bank.

The director appreciates when parishes also use their own creativity to meet their Bishop's Appeal assessments. He cited a parish at which children made birdhouses, sold them and donated the proceeds to the appeal.

In the end, Mrs. North said, 296 donations were made by Annunciation parishioners toward the 2015 Bishop's Appeal. The most recent diocesan statistics cite about 226 active households in the parish, plus another 800 or so inactive households.

"If every family that's actually registered with the parish [donated], you'd meet your assessment easily," remarked Mrs. North, who'd like to see more people come back to active participation.

In fact, inactive Catholics and even non-Catholics receive benefits from the Bishop's Appeal. In a new video at www.thebishopsappeal.org, Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger and Rev. John Bradley, a priest of the Diocese for 49 years, both point out that the appeal enables the Diocese "to provide services no one parish could do on its own." Father Bradley notes the services of counselors, hospital and university chaplains, food pantries and soup kitchens, in addition to Catholic Charities, faith formation and schools.

"Every dollar counts" in supporting the Diocese's works of mercy, the Bishop says in the video, and "every act of mercy toward every person is a way of spreading the Gospel."

The Bishop's Appeal raised more than $7.5 million last year. "We're a big Diocese," Mr. Prindle stated, thanking Catholics for their donations. "Kudos to all parishes, everywhere."[[In-content Ad]]

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