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Feb. 24, 2020
The 2019 Archdiocesan Annual Appeal raised $7.4 million, making it the most successful annual appeal ever.
“Thank you to everyone who made a gift,” said archdiocesan development director Rod Linhares. “Your spectacular generosity helped improve many lives.”
Linhares said the archdiocese is “most appreciative of the tremendous efforts of the pastors, parish staffs, and others in bringing the critical message of the AAA to parishioners. We also thank everyone who was not able to make a gift to the appeal but offered their prayers for the people who need and depend on it.”
The appeal is an annual opportunity for parishioners throughout the archdiocese to unite in ministry. Gifts support retired priests, seminarians, social justice, Catholic schools and other ministries.
Linhares shared two examples of people helped through the 2019 appeal.
Ramon and Patricia Marquez were supported through the archdiocesan restorative justice ministry, which is an outreach to crime victims and their families, crime offenders and their families and the incarcerated. Ramon and Patricia lost their son, Michael, to a random act of gun violence in San Francisco.
“Through the restorative justice ministry, they were guided and accompanied in their journey of healing,” Linhares said. “They believe that their involvement in this ministry has been integral to their ability to get through such a terrible time. They now serve in the restorative justice ministry, helping others who have experienced tragedies like theirs.” Ramon and Patricia also visit incarcerated youth under 18-years-old at the San Francisco Juvenile Justice Center.
Various academic programs in the Catholic schools were supported, including the “Maker’s Space Initiative.” The initiative helps bring science to life for middle schoolers through hands-on learning. Students in one class built robots out of plastic cups, motors, batteries and electrical wires.
“The effects of the Maker’s Space are very significant,” Linhares said. “In fact, one teacher has witnessed a substantial increase in the number of students, especially girls, who want to pursue a career in science or math because of the initiative. Through the appeal, you are helping change the trajectory of young lives.”
Linhares said the AAA “is integral to the mission of our archdiocese as well as our personal mission as Catholics. As stated by Richard and Linda Kosta, parishioners of Our Lady of Angels in Burlingame, ‘We support the Archdiocesan Annual Appeal because of the ministries that it supports, and the good that it does for the people who need it.”’
“On behalf of everyone who needs and depends on the annual appeal, we thank you very much for your generosity,” Linhares concluded. “Whether it was financial and/or through your prayers, it is greatly appreciated and very beneficial. We also thank you for your support, in so many ways, of your own parish communities.”
For more information, please contact Rod Linhares, director of development, (415) 614-5581; linharesr@sfarch.org.