Before we review the outcome of our Capital Campaign, Our Heritage, Our Future, I want to remind everyone how much work the parish has accomplished since the dreaded Covid lockdown: we have refinished our Gym Floor, rebuilt our Skylight, repaired the Culvert, remodeled the St. Joseph Chapel, and made repairs to a Water Pipe in front of the Church – all of which tallies close to $450,000.00.
Then, with rising interest rates and diminishing funds to pay our mortgage (last winter), our Finance Council sought solutions to properly address our Social Hall debt. Seeking the assistance of Mr. Thomas Smith of Magna Advancement Solutions, we launched the Our Heritage, Our Future Capital Campaign.  By necessity, we set our parish goal of $1.5 million to (1) eliminate our Social Hall mortgage, (2) repair and re-work our HVAC system, and (3) modernize our Confessionals. 
Having heard from our people through our feasibility study, we launched the active phase of our campaign last fall. At that point, I had the great pleasure of visiting and personally talking with a significant number of our parishioners… something I found enriching and quite memorable. We are truly blessed to have such beautiful people in our parish community. 

Here is the news: 
We are thrilled to announce that we have met the goal for our campaign! Remarkably, we have met and even exceeded our $1.5 million goal. In fact, the actual amount pledged is $1.91 million! This comes from pledges made by 555 parishioners and 50 friends of the parish (non-parishioners)! This is simply amazing.
Last Friday, I walked into the bank which holds our mortgage and was able to hand them a check for $500,000.00 as the first (of our last) mortgage payments following our campaign!
We are grateful for your contribution to the life and ministry of St. Elizabeth Seton. You have made it possible for St. Elizabeth Seton to grow and to serve our people and our community – spiritually, pastorally, liturgically, and socially.
I want to recognize and thank our parish staff, under the direction of Mrs. Kristin McMinn, Director of Operations, for their hard work as they handled much of the day-to-day operations of the campaign - as well as assisting with the development of our campaign message and content.
I also want to congratulate and thank our incredible Parish Finance Council, under the leadership of Mr. Mike Ososki, for their vision and guidance. The Parish Finance Council is extraordinary, and I completely trust them to guide us in the future. We appreciate the witnesses who spoke at our small receptions and at our liturgies as well as parishioners who acted as hosts and hostesses at these events.
In addition, I want to thank Bishop Timothy Doherty who gave us permission and guidance during this campaign and the highly successful -and experienced- Mr. Tom Smith who directed our efforts.
Payments have been made on 55 percent of our pledges. This number is extremely encouraging. It is critical that each of us fulfill our pledge commitments over the next 12 months. The usage of funds received above our campaign goal will be under the direction of the Parish Finance Council.
Again, I want to thank everyone who contributed: Pledges or Prayers. I know that your contributions are given in an act of trust. Because of that trust, we have been able (and will continue) to do so many good things here at St. Elizabeth Seton. 
 

The Numbers At A Glance
As of December 16, 2024
 

Financial Contribution Goal-$1,500,000

Capital Campaign Case Statement