You may have noticed how the Tuesday before Thanksgiving is coming to be known, more so with each passing year, as “Giving Tuesday.”  Television, radio, and all over forms of modern media suggest that we use this day to give to charities, reminding ourselves, whether we are believers or not, that this helps to make the world a better place in which to live.

Last year, Saint Joseph School was able to benefit from this day through a special dispensation from the Golden Belt Community Foundation.  They accepted gifts from their base of donors, which they then forwarded to the school.  They are again allowing us to do this.

Also this year, our Diocese of Dodge City has urged all parishes and Catholic institutions to avail themselves of the “I Give Catholic” initiative.  This is a national program, sponsored by Our Sunday Visitor, among others.  It doesn’t cost anything for our parishes to participate.  Each parish now has a designated web page, where anyone from anywhere, can donate directly into our local bank accounts. The minimum donation is $25.  “Donors always have the option to cover all fees on our behalf.  In last year’s national campaign, 64% of donors did! Which means that for every $100 raised, each organization only paid $1.97 in fees on average!”

The question always seem to arise, “Why would I want to give this way, when I can already give to my parish or to St. Joseph School?”  The answer is, you need not if you do already give.  This program is aimed at those who may have roots in our parishes but no longer live in the area.  Like ourselves, they feel an obligation “to give back.”  I Give Catholic is only a way in which we are able to reach them without mounting our own campaign.  And any money donated in any three of the accounts goes directly, without diocesan tithe, to the parishes or to Saint Joseph School.