In conjunction with the Catholic Foundation of the Diocese of Green Bay, our parishes recently conducted the One by One Campaign, which will benefit the infrastructure at our parishes and the work of the diocese. We are pleased to report that each of the parishes came in at or above the campaign goal.
Melissa Schlegel, a member of the Stewardship Committee at our local parishes, was so inspired by people’s generosity.
“The church has many needs, and there are many unique opportunities to give,” Melissa says. “It brings great joy to each of us when we find just the perfect place to share our treasure. The One by One campaign was one of those unique ways.”
Commitments could be made over five years — most will ultimately go toward infrastructure updates at our parishes. The diocese will use its portion of the funds for technology and communication, social services, evangelization and discipleship, strengthening Catholic education, vocation efforts, and transforming and enhancing parishes.
St. John came in at 106 percent of their goal with SS. Mary and Hyacinth at 100 percent. St. Wenceslaus hit the mark at 133 percent of the goal. The parishes raised over $968,000 combined total. Together the whole Diocese raised $88.5 million.
Several people at each parish stepped up to help with the effort. At St. John’s, Tom Bradley, Chris Corr, Becky Frisch, Jim Frisch, Kaye Matucheski, Tom Quinlan and Lynne Henricks led the campaign. At St. Wenceslaus, Tom Koss, Randy Fleischman, and Marie Fleischman took the lead, with Rosie Filbrandt, Brian Prunty, Dan Husnick, and Cathy Strobel working at SS. Mary and Hyacinth.
Brian Prunty has done fundraising work in the past and was happy to step up to help with this effort.
“Everyone I met with to talk about the campaign was interested and curious,” Brian says. “It gave me the opportunity to talk about their faith and my faith. It was interesting to see how they all prayerfully considered a gift.”
Tom Koss enjoyed being able to assist with the campaign. He has a long history of fundraising for various organizations.
“I was blown away by the people who I know don’t have the means to make large donations,” Tom says. “But they were so generous when they were called on.”
For Tom, witnessing the stewardship of these gifts was so inspiring.
“It was like the widow in Scripture who gave her last coin,” Tom says. “Although we didn’t want anyone to over-commit, it was fun watching their faith help them make their final decision.”
Everyone on the committee and Fr. Joel Sember are so thankful to all the parishioners who gave toward the One by One campaign. Every dollar counts to make this work possible.
“If you have no operating funds, you have no mission,” Brian says. “If you are serious about the mission, you must look for ways to fund that mission.”
“It is a good cause and good to be involved,” Tom says. “It was fun to be part of a campaign with such a worthy goal.”