Diocese of Fall River, Mass.
F riday , July 12, 2013
Diocesan faithful lead Charities Appeal to new record By Becky Aubut Anchor Staff
FALL RIVER — There is always a learning curve when it’s your first year on the job. But as the new director of Development for the Fall River Diocese, the curve that James Campbell experienced, made a permanent mark in the record books when the final tally of this year’s Catholic Charities Appeal came in. When the books closed on June 25, Campbell and his staff, Cynthia Iacovelli, Patty Dooley and Doris Desrosiers, discovered the 72nd annual Appeal had raised a record $4,319,468.93 — an increase of more than $114,000 from last year, and surpassing the previous record set in 2007 by more than $13,000. “It’s really hard to do an analysis that says you did ‘X’ and ‘Y’ happened; it’s a lot of different factors,” said Campbell of the success of the Appeal. Working off of the “greatly appreciated” structure set in place by former director Michael Donly, Campbell said that his goal during his first year was to rework some of the material. The Appeal would continue to provide a solid message that would allow the advocacy to spread throughout the diocese but Campbell broke down his threeprong approach to good fund-raising: “You have to have a compelling need and a compelling message; you have to have good information; and from those two things,
you have to develop meaningful relationships because people can give to a lot of worthy causes, but they tend to give to those they feel a connection to,” he explained. He admits his most dramatic change was the redesign of the Catholic Charities Appeal logo. There was loyalty and equity built up in that logo, said Campbell, but after much thought, and receiving encouragement
“A
ll change is not adopted readily,” said Campbell. “The interesting thing was the reaction [to the new design]. Some people loved it but one person said to me, ‘It looks like a grumpy pretzel.’ Grumpy pretzel became my shorthand for people who were upset with all the changes.” from others, he decided it was time for a “fresh look” and contracted with a graphic designer to revitalize the logo. “I had a great deal of respect, that this is a cultural tradition in the Diocese of Fall River, unlike any others, because for years and years in these towns you were defined by your parish, and the tradition of the Catholic Charities Appeal and the tradition of those two hearts, meant a great deal to people,” said Campbell. And though the final design didn’t stray too far from
the well-recognized two hearts, not everyone was giving the new logo a lot of love. “All change is not adopted readily,” said Campbell. “The interesting thing was the reaction [to the new design]. Some people loved it but one person said to me, ‘It looks like a grumpy pretzel.’ Grumpy pretzel became my shorthand for people who were upset with all the changes.” The motto of the Appeal also changed from “Caring. Sharing. Offering Hope” to “Whatever you can. For those who cannot” to better reflect the Appeal’s spiritual message: “It seemed to represent the volunteerism and the sense of the Christian mission,” said Campbell. “I wanted the theme of the Appeal uplifting and positive.” To continue to promote the uplifting theme, the emotional tone of the campaign used a spiritual passage from Corinthians. “God loves a cheerful giver” became the blueprint for the campaign video; “We said, ‘Let’s illustrate the cheerful giver,’” said Campbell. The videos, the 17-minute “complete encyclopedia” kickoff video and the six-minute version shown during Mass, were focused less on the “destitution we were trying to address and more on the people who were actually deciding to contribute and be a part of the effort,” said Campbell. Not that the videos were ignoring the plight of Turn to page 18
Mass. Pro-Lifers hopeful court will overturn buffer zone law By Christine Willams Anchor Correspondent
Seven new Harvard Knights and six from Boston University were welcomed into the Harvard University Knights of Columbus Council #14188 last fall. Included among the Harvard inductees was Curtis St. Pierre, eighth from left, a Fall River resident and parishioner of St. Bernadette’s Parish there.
A university Knight’s tale: Balancing studies, faith and service to the Church By Dave Jolivet Anchor Editor
FALL RIVER — Entering freshman year at Harvard University provides a plethora of challenges and changes for any young woman or man. Sometimes, at any university or college, activities and priorities
are shifted or even discarded. Oftentimes, it’s the student’s faith life that can fall through the cracks. There is, however, a group of men at and around the Cambridge institution whose mission is to not only prevent that from happening, but to
strengthen an already existent faith life. The Harvard University Pope John Paul II Council was born on All Saints Day in 2006, and since then has invited young Catholic men to join them in their journey to defend their country, families and faith, Turn to page 17
ATTLEBORO — From Attleboro’s Angel Park, a narrow strip of grass between divided Highway 118, Pro-Lifers can watch pregnant women enter the abortion clinic across the street. They pray and hope their witness will make a difference, but they rarely have the chance to offer alternatives to the women. For more than six years, a 35foot buffer zone has surrounded Four Women Health Services, the last remaining abortion clinic in the Diocese of Fall River. Sidewalk counselors from Massachusetts have fought the law all the way to the United States Supreme Court. On June 24, the court agreed to hear the case. Steve Guillotte, director of pastoral services at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Acushnet, said that he is hopeful the law will be overturned. The law is unjust and a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech. Moreover,
because the law only applies to abortion clinics and not, say, pregnancy resource centers, it only targets Pro-Life speech, he said. At least two times a year, Guillotte and other St. Francis parishioners pray outside the Attleboro clinic, participating in the 40 Days for Life campaigns. “The distance between us and the young ladies who are walking in to have an abortion is just so palpable,” he said. He would like to be able to engage the women in an “honest, gentle discussion.” He would like to be able to inform them about Abundant Hope, the pregnancy resource center located just one mile west. “They are getting the proabortion side. We should be able to give them the Pro-Life side,” he said. Colorado, Montana and various municipalities have also enacted buffer zone laws. The first Massachusetts Buffer Zone law passed in 2000. Then, it was a 25-foot fixed buffer. Turn to page 18