The Catholic community in northwest Pennsylvania continues to unite in the faith-filled day of generosity known globally as #iGiveCatholic. On November 28, Catholics across northwest Pennsylvania were invited to join in and give to the ministries that shape their hearts and souls, and they responded by surpassing 2022's totals. Across the 13-county Diocese of Erie, 2,017 individuals donated $441,406 in support of 99 Catholic organizations including parishes, schools, and ministries. This brings the total raised through #iGiveCatholic over the five years of diocesan participation to over $1.5 million!
With the theme Give Catholic on Giving Tuesday, #iGiveCatholic is an annual 24-hour online giving event uniting Catholics across the nation to raise as many charitable dollars as possible for Catholic organizations. In the Diocese of Erie, donors hailed from Scotland, Puerto Rico, and twenty-seven states outside of Pennsylvania, showing how far-reaching online giving can be. Nationally, a record-breaking $20 million was raised for over 1,800 Catholic organizations through #iGiveCatholic.
Many organizations found great success in reaching their fundraising goals for a variety of projects. Fr. John Miller, pastor of Saint Joseph Parish in Oil City, expressed his heartfelt thanks to his parishioners for their generosity as they far exceeded their initial $10,000 goal. "We are very blessed here at Saint Joseph Parish to have raised close to $30,000 for #iGiveCatholic! Parishioners really went to bat to help us towards our goal of finishing the Rose Window project."
The Catholic Foundation of Northwest Pennsylvania facilitated #iGiveCatholic for the first time in 2019 when a total of $92,843 was raised for 67 Catholic organizations. In 2020, donors more than doubled first year donations with a total of $243,498 in support. 2020 to 2021 saw an increase in giving of almost $100,000 to $340,054, and 2022 brought the cumulative total to over $1 million raised with $400,067. Reacting to this year’s results, Lisa Louis, Executive Director of the Catholic Foundation, said, “We are thrilled with the response to the 2023 #iGiveCatholic campaign. The continued increase in not only dollars raised to support these Catholic organizations, but the number of people supporting them is inspiring. It shows us that Catholics will come together to support the causes dear to them, and they really can make a difference when doing so."
To offer incentive for the giving day, participating ministries were eligible to win cash prizes by attaining predetermined goals on the day of the event and during the advanced giving period. A $26,000 cash prize pool was available thanks to event sponsors and a generous anonymous donor dedicated to supporting the Catholic community. In all 39 prizes were awarded to 35 organizations.
Thank you to our 2023 #iGiveCatholic northwest Pennsylvania sponsors!
