Donor Story
It’s no understatement to say that Fr. Leo Gallina has an affinity for Saint Bernard of Clairvaux Parish in Bradford PA.
Not only his childhood parish, Saint Bernard is also where Fr. Gallina served as pastor for twelve years. After learning about the Catholic Foundation of Northwest Pennsylvania, Fr. Gallina realized that this was the perfect way to leave a legacy for his hometown parish to reap the benefits into perpetuity.
Fr. Gallina established an endowment for Saint Bernard Parish in 2012 to help fund the ongoing expenses of the church. Each year, the Catholic Foundation sends a distribution from the endowment to Saint Bernard. Fr. Gallina was so happy to hear that the parish used the 2019 distribution to heat the church and offices for two cold, wintery months.
Wendy Thomson, the financial secretary at Saint Bernard, says, “we were able to use our designated grant to help pay two months of gas bills in the parish. With a slow decline in our offertory over the past several years, it is sometimes hard to meet the everyday expenses of running a parish. We are grateful for the extra funds we receive from the endowment.”
If you would like to donate to this endowment, or establish your own endowment, contact Lisa Louis at (814) 824-1237 or llouis@cfnwpa.org.
“It’s not how much you give, but how you give…from the heart.”