Centennial Campaign fund recipients see biggest checks ever

By Renee Webb, Globe editor
Sept. 20, 2007

Teachers at Sacred Heart School in Boone just may get an extra bonus this Christmas thanks to funds the school received from the Centennial Campaign for Excellence.

The four prior years of disbursements totaled about $597,000 - so this year surpassed the total distributed in all previous years combined.

"Our investments exceed $10 million at this time," noted Luft. "We had an excellent year as far as earnings on investments."

The return on investment for this year was about 12.7 percent.

"I think it is important for people to know that this money is working to meet the needs that we assessed five years ago," said Luft.

Every diocesan school received a check. These funds, as outlined in the goals of the campaign, are to be used for teacher salaries.

Jeff Lynch, principal at Sacred Heart in Boone, said, "The Centennial Campaign funds will be a great asset for us. It is an increase of dollars that we didn't count into our budget that can be used for Christmas bonuses possibly, more so used for teachers and trying to compensate them in the area of pay."

Reflecting on the importance of being competitive with public school wages, he anticipated that this year's more than $26,000 distribution will impact the school budget next year - increasing teacher salaries.

"Our parishioners have given to the Centennial Campaign and now it's coming back to help our teachers out," said Lynch. "We want to show our appreciation to the teachers."

Bishop Garrigan Catholic Schools in Algona received just over $31,000. Gene Meister, president of Bishop Garrigan, said, "It was a significant increase this year. It will go for teacher salaries and benefits."

Meister anticipated that the teachers would get a bump in their salary this fall and some funds would be kept in reserves to help with salaries in the future.

"It's an uplifting experience," he said. "Our teachers are paid a very modest salary and it has been that way forever. They are very dedicated people. By giving them a little increase - this is a wonderful way to say thank you."

Meister extended thanks to the committee that manages the fund and to those who contributed to the campaign.

At $155,000 Catholic Charities received the largest check, nearly double what the agency's executive director had budgeted.

"It was a huge increase and one we were not expecting," said Jerry Eaton.

In recent years the agency had had fewer government contracts through the Department of Human Services, while at the same time more of its clientele was using the sliding scale fee and fewer clients had access to mental health insurance coverage. Layoffs in the area compounded demand for services, but need for lower fees.

Those factors made Catholic Charities budget tight in recent years.

"When you think about the mission of Catholic Charities, we are designed to provide the highest quality services to the ones who need it the most and have the least ability to pay. That's the nice thing about this, it allows us to fulfill our mission," said Eaton.

He expressed gratitude "for the thoughtfulness of all the people who gave to the campaign and for those who designated money to Catholic Charities. It means a lot that they support our work."

Jessica La Fleur Malm, director of youth and young adult ministry, said a large portion of proceeds that went to the religious education area would be used so people may attend the upcoming Diocesan Ministries Conference at no charge.

"Because of the significant increase in funds, we are going to be able to do some new things," she added. For instance, La Fleur hopes to use a portion of the funds to build up the young adult ministry in the diocese.

Given that this was a five-year campaign, Luft explained that most of the funds have been collected.

"We will not have significant dollars coming in. Most people are paid in full," she said.

This year, 60 percent of the investment earnings was distributed and 40 percent was held. That way if there is a year with low earnings or a negative return, the money that has been set aside could be distributed. In the first four years, 75 percent of the investment earnings was distributed and 25 was held back.

The diocesan finance council and the board of the Catholic School Foundation oversee the fund.