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Fraternal Dispatch May - June 2009
The Great Catholic Aid Get-Together, Aug. 7-8 Inside • The Director’s View..... 2 • 2008 Fraternal Program Summary...................... 2 • Liability Coverage For Councils......................... 2 • Heather’s Corner.......... 3 • Event Recipe: Hold a Fellowship Sunday...... 3 • New FAC Members...... 3 • Deadline Extended For Youth Team Noms....... 4 • Fraternal MVP.............. 4
It’s the great Catholic Aid get-together! The Annual Convention is coming up on August 7-8, 2009 on the beautiful campus of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. During the convention, Catholic Aid members, delegates, officers and employees gather to discuss company business, learn about improving our Catholic schools and parishes through CAA grants, and having some good ol’ fashioned fun at the same time. Councils must elect delegates and submit their election results to the Home Office by July 15, 2009. Delegates enjoy Friday dinner together at the 2008 Each council has been notified by Convention at St. John’s University. on how many delegates they are allowed to elect this year. For more details on elections, look to page 1 of your 2009 Fraternal Manual, or page 4 of your 2008 Fraternal Manual. Contact the Fraternal Department if you have any questions or comments on your participation at the convention.
Send us your ideas for new A publication of the Catholic Aid Association 3499 Lexington Ave N. St. Paul, MN 55126 Tel: 651.490.0170 Toll Free: 800.568.6670 Fax: 651.766.1007 www.catholicaid.org fraternal@catholicaid.org
We need your help. Your Fraternal staff is busy lining up entertainment, silent auction items, activities, booths and breakout sessions – everything that makes our convention fun and informative. As we plan the breakout sessions, we would like to get your feedback about breakout sessions. Last year’s sessions focused on marketing tactics, estate planning, and shaping the future of councils. What fraternal topics would you like to learn more about this year? Volunteer recruitment? CAA programs and procedures? Using technology to help your council? We’re taking your suggestions right now in order to bring you the most useful breakout sessions possible. Send your suggestions to fraternal@catholicaid.org or give the department a call, 1-800-568-6670. Send us a suggestion or two. We’d like to use your ideas at the upcoming convention.
The Director’s View Kathleen Moriarty Fraternal Director kmoriarty@catholicaid.org I hope many of you found the time to read the Fraternal Year in Review section of the Catholic Aid Annual report, published in the March/April issue of CAA Journey. I refer to it because it summarizes the significant money given to parishes, schools and religious education efforts in 2008 through the fraternal programs available to Catholic Aid councils and parish unit groups. These are contributions we can all be proud of, especially our members and council officers who guide the use of fraternal funds in your local communities. The numbers are repeated in this newsletter for your review. But I have another request of you: while the numbers are compelling, we also need to know the stories behind the numbers! I want to hear from you about the purpose of your events, how you put
the event together, who helped and, especially, what the outcomes were to benefit Catholic Aid members and those in the larger Catholic community. I hope you will pick up the phone, send an email to fraternal@catholicaid.org or contact us via the web (www.catholicaid.org) to tell us about your events. We can then share the information with other members, prospective members, community leaders, and CAA employees -- all of whom love to hear about the people behind the numbers!! And while you are telling the CAA story to your friends and neighbors, remember to recommend them as future members of CAA. Membership growth is critical to our association and word of mouth is the best recommendation we have. Let your Field Rep know of people who would be good Catholic Aid members – and tell your story to prospective members to encourage their involvement in this great organization. I hope you’ll contact the Fraternal Department staff with your stories and referrals. We’d love to hear from you.
Telling our stories, in words and numbers
Catholic Aid 2008 Fraternal Program Summary Volunteers
Volunteer Hours
10,605
43,677
$840,169.68
$193,652.56
Member Assistance
656
3,417
$274,899.77
$13,855.00
Youth Parish
466
3,769
$ --
$2,937.00
Youth Grant
539
2,100
$23,200.32
$2,207.71
12,266
52,963
$1,138,269.77
$212,652.27
Matching Grant
Totals
Council Raised
Matched
Does Your Council Need Liability Coverage? If a parish or venue asks you about liability insurance coverage for your event, here’s your answer. Catholic Aid provides liability insurance coverage, but individual councils need to sign up for this coverage through the Home Office two weeks prior to the event. There is no fee for this coverage, unless an additional insured is needed on the policy, such as a parish or diocese. In this case, the charge for this coverage is $25, paid by the council. If you need liability insurance coverage, contact Judy LeTendre in the Home Office by calling 1-800-568-6670, ext. 167. Or you can get the process rolling by downloading the Liability Insurance Coverage Request form from the CAA web site. May - June 2009
Heather’s Corner
We’re offering $100 scholarships to help students attend the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) in Kansas City, Kansas in November. Heather Vargo The NCYC is a biannual conference Youth Fraternal Liaison that will bring together over 20,000 hvargo@catholicaid.org Catholic teenagers from throughout the United States. Twenty five scholarships will be offered to members who meet certain basic criteria; all members who are attending the NCYC are encouraged to apply. Keep an eye out for applications and information that will be mailed to council Youth Liaisons or Fraternal Secretaries the week of May 18. Applications for this member benefit will be accepted June 1 – Sept. 1 for NCYC 2009. Council officers will be notified of all youth that apply for this scholarship and encouraged to make a financial contribution to each young person. Also, officers are encouraged to invite the young person to a council meeting to report on their experiences. Email me for more information: Here’s the recipe to make a Fellowship Sunday event hvargo@catholicaid.org. at your parish a resounding success. Event Description: Fellowship Sundays are held to promote Catholic Aid and recruit new members in a Many thanks to the new members of the parish through food, door prizes and hospitality. Fraternal Advisory Committee (FAC) who started Recent Example: Fellowship Sunday at St. Joseph’s serving on April 29, 2009: Mary Fischer of St. Catholic Church in West St. Paul, Minn., on April 5. Anna Council in Belle Plaine, MN; Kay St. Joe’s is a large parish, and turnout for the Palm Halverson of St. Anthony-Maria Hilf in Sunday event was huge! St. Paul, MN; and Julie Toenyan of Holy Volunteers Needed: Depending on the size of the Family in St. Rosa, MN. parish, a team of three to five per day, plus a field Mary is Council President, a lifelong representative, is all it takes. member of CAA, and has been an active Preparation: Order breakfast food and beverages; Mary Fischer leader in the parish’s youth activities. reserve space at the church building or parish hall; Mary says she brings an outsider’s perspective to the FAC and is excited to serve recruit volunteers; set up venue the day of the event and clean up after. an organization with such a strong CathoPromotion: Coordinate with the parish about publishlic focus. ing an announcement in the bulletin or parish calenKay is Council Treasurer, and says dar, or announcing Catholic Aid’s grants have provided the event from the “phenomenal” help to her parish. She Kay Halverson pulpit. Distribute wants to bring a “new, fresh outlook” to event flyers. the committee and she wants to help get People: Coordinate new programs rolling. the details of the This is Julie’s second time serving on event with your the FAC and she’s returning because she parish administrator was impressed that the committee acor priest. And don’t complished things without “reinventing Julie Toenyan forget to invite the the wheel.” Julie is the fraternal secretary Home Office Fraterof Holy Family Council and is also serving on the Children from St. Joseph’s Church in CAA Foundation’s Disaster Relief Advisory Team. nal staff!
Event Recipe: Fellowship Sunday
FAC Members Excited To Share Opinions
West St. Paul, MN enjoy the Catholic Aid coloring books they received at the Fellowship Sunday event.
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3499 Lexington Avenue N.
Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID St. Paul, MN Permit No. 4454
St. Paul, MN 55126
CAA Scholarship Awards Exceed $2 Million We awarded 490 scholarships this year to our members for a total of $164,600, and passed the $2 million mark for total awards given since 1955! Over 5,000 Catholic Aid members have attended college or job training with help from CAA. This is a fantastic benefit and milestone. Spread the word!
Deadline Extended For Youth Team Nominations The Fraternal department is still looking for youth and young adults who can give us feedback about our youth initiatives and programs through a young adult advisory team. We have extended the nomination deadline for this team until May 31, 2009. If you know of a young adult who has an interest in volunteerism, call or email Youth Fraternal Liaison Heather Vargo to submit a nomination.
Mary Wielenberg Congratulations to Mary Wielenberg, fraternal secretary of St. Mary’s Council in Upsala, MN for her selection as Fraternal MVP for the week of April 4 by the National Fraternal Congress of America (NFCA). The NFCA recognizes volunteers who “embody the heart of fraternalism through their volunteer efforts and commitment to their communities.” Mary has been a council officer for five years and is a regular church volunteer. She is also active in the reading program at the elementary school and co-chairs the school’s book fair. Congratulations to Mary for her wonderful work and for her recent recognition. To all of Catholic Aid’s dedicated volunteers, thank you for your dedication. To nominate a council volunteer for the Fraternal MVP, contact Fraternal Liaison John Sullivan, jsullivan@catholicaid.org.