Interim President Yen Fasano said she was inspired and deeply grateful whether she was processing a five-figure or a $5 monetary gift for the St. Paul-based Catholic Services Appeal Foundation (CSAF) as it wound down this year to make way for the new Catholic Services Appeal of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

“There are no words to capture the depth of my gratitude,” Fasano said, with tears gathering in her eyes. “It’s very humbling because with each gift, it’s (donors) saying ‘Amen. I believe. I believe in your mission. I believe in your vision.'”

Amid her thanks, Fasano, a member of All Saints in Lakeville, said, “I don’t forget the names (of donors) and they are in my prayers. It gives me great hope — it’s Christ’s body and the Church working at its best.”

Karen Rauenhorst, CSAF board chair who has been a member of the board for about three years, said CSAF’s efforts are about “doing the work of our local Church and it’s across all aspects of the archdiocese.”

The appeal started in 1959 in the archdiocese as Opus Santi Petri, with volunteers going door to door soliciting funds for the local seminaries’ building and operation costs. The mission of the organization expanded in 1969 to support education, urban affairs, priest, youth and senior ministries through the Archbishop’s Annual Catholic Appeal. In 2009, the name changed again to the Catholic Services Appeal (CSA), to emphasize the fact that funds raised through the appeal were used for the collective archdiocese’s designated ministries. In 2013, an independent foundation was created for the appeal to act as a separate entity.

“The amount of funding that’s been raised over the last decade is impressive in and of itself,” said Fasano, who, prior to her role as interim president, filled various roles on the CSAF board during her nearly 10 years with the foundation. “The generosity of the donors and the priests that champion us and the parishes that strive to meet (their) goal or exceed their goal — everyone is playing some type of role in order for us to be able to support all these ministries and their missions.”

This past year, CSAF designated 19 Catholic ministries in the archdiocese to receive its support. This included support for Catholic education, hospital chaplains, Latino ministry, marriage and family programming, prison ministry, seminarian education and care for the poor and marginalized, among other ministries.

Fasano said that as the CSAF board prayerfully discerned the foundation’s next steps, conversation centered on “the archbishop’s vision,” including the Archdiocesan Synod implementation priorities he has outlined in his pastoral letter, “You Will Be My Witnesses: Gathered and Sent From the Upper Room.”

In August last year, the CSAF board announced it had voted to dissolve the independent foundation. Subsequently, the archdiocese decided to handle the appeal in-house through its Office of Mission Advancement.

“We (the CSAF board) decided by dissolving completely, it would give way to a renewal of an archbishop’s annual appeal that allows him to be the voice,” Fasano said. “I think it just creates better alignment that supports a very strong vision and mission that has been set forth by (Archbishop Hebda), our very holy shepherd.”

The appeal is now officially operated by the archdiocese. It’s led by Jean Houghton, director of the archdiocesan Office of Mission Advancement, who previously served as president of the St. Paul-based Aim Higher Foundation.

“I really think it’s an exciting time,” said Rauenhorst, a member of Holy Name of Jesus in Medina. The appeal’s return to the archdiocese unifies and helps “enhance the work of the archdiocese,” she said.

“I think it’s an excellent opportunity to move forward and join forces,” Rauenhorst said.

As Fasano and Rauenhorst reflected on CSAF’s legacy, Fasano said she hopes “what people ultimately see is a foundation that lived out its core values with fidelity, and with Christ being the center of it all, and rooted in gratitude.”

Rauenhorst said CSAF’s legacy is “built on the previous work of the CSA when it was at the archdiocese.” She sees this work of “serving the people that need it in our local Church” continuing.

“Now we just get to invite people along toward that mission and that participation,” Fasano said.

According to CSAF, the final 2023 campaign status after all gifts were processed was calculated to be over $8,290,200.

Fasano said that landing within 96.4% of reaching the $8.6 million 2023 goal means there’s “a huge opportunity” for donors in 2024: “We rally, and we come together, and we grow it. The only way to go is up.”

“Every gift is meaningful and impactful,” Fasano said. “And there’s no gift too small or too large.”

A 2024 appeal announcement is planned for Masses the weekend of Feb. 3-4. Meanwhile, donation information and resources will become available toward the end of January and leading up to the announcement weekend in February.

FURTHER REFLECTIONS FROM THE BOARD

Father Leonard Andrie
Board member for two years
Pastor of St. Therese in Deephaven

“God has blessed CSAF board members with a passion for supporting ministries and areas in our local Church that need extra support bringing people to Christ who could not do so otherwise. Whether it is those struggling financially, students needing financial assistance to receive an excellent Catholic education, or supporting our hospital chaplains and seminarians, the CSAF has done so much good for the glory of God and for so many. The CSAF helped bring stability during a trying time in the history of our local Church. It continued the longstanding tradition of helping multiple ministries bring the light of Christ to God’s children in need. The CSAF puts into action our Lord’s call to serve the ‘least of his brothers and sisters’ (Mt 25:40). In serving those in need, we serve Christ himself.” Having the archdiocese operate the Catholic Services Appeal will help better coordinate resources and reduce expenses to increase the benefit for those ministries that need extra support, Father Andrie said.

Steve Carter
Secretary, board member for eight years
Member of Holy Trinity in South St. Paul

Carter said he has seen CSAF’s impact “personally, being able to visit some of our ministries to see firsthand the impact that these ministries have had on the lives of so many, whether in our schools or in our communities.” He sees the foundation’s legacy as “maintaining a consistent presence in the community over the past 10 years that has helped the Church fulfill its mission.” He hopes to see this work continue, “to encourage everyone to embrace the call to support our ministries to do the Lord’s work. It is especially important to reach younger members of our Church to join us; it is important to be aware of the need to replace those who have gone before us in sacrificing to help others.”

Lisa Gott
Ministries committee chair, board member for 10 years
Member of St. Michael in Stillwater

“During our 10 years as a separate foundation from the archdiocese, we have always tried our best to listen to our donors and to be good stewards of their generous donations. Our donors wanted more support for Catholic education, so we were proud to tell them that through their generosity, all diocesan Catholic elementary schools, through block grants or student scholarships, and all diocesan Catholic high schools through student scholarships, have received financial support from CSAF.

“Although several CSAF-supported ministries support pro-life programs, CSAF donors wanted an exclusively pro-life organization added. Therefore, Abria Pregnancy Resources was added as a supported ministry. However, to better meet community needs, CSAF decided to transfer support to Elevate Life in order to reach over 30 pregnancy resource centers rather than just one. Abria is one of their 30 centers.

“Perhaps a highlight for me happened in 2021. Due to the generosity of CSAF donors during the 2020 campaign, after all planned payments were made to CSAF supported ministries, we were able to provide one-time grants to 24 schools and ministries in our archdiocese totaling almost $600,000. To name just a few, these grants provided security systems, a new adoration chapel, library materials, Catechesis of the Good Shepherd programs, new plumbing in an elementary school so that a boy’s bathroom could be reopened, and a forklift desperately needed for St. Vincent de Paul. This extra help made an incredible difference to so many people in our community!

“I hope that our legacy is that CSAF listened to our donors and were good stewards of their donations. This ongoing financial support for the past 10 years has helped the ministries and schools continue to provide their valuable services and education for our archdiocese and community. I’m hopeful that CSA will continue to increase in fundraising so that even more support can be given to the many needs in our archdiocese.”

Vicky Iacarella
Member of the executive and marketing committees, board member for a little over four years
Member of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Minneapolis

“I believe the legacy of CSAF is bringing help and hope to those in need and making a difference in thousands of lives everyday while persevering during some trying times over the past few years. But the legacy doesn’t belong to CSAF as much as it belongs to the donors who through their faithful and generous giving have made it easy for CSAF to live up to the mission of making Jesus known and loved in our archdiocese. It has been a privilege to serve on a board where everyone has been so dedicated to living their faith out in service to the Church.”

Harold Parsons
Treasurer, board member for three years
Member of Holy Trinity in South St. Paul

A personal experience for Parsons highlighted the foundation’s importance: “My mother passed away two summers ago at Regions Hospital and thanks to the hospital chaplain, Father Cassian (DiRocco), she was able to receive last rites, which is funded by the CSAF. For me, this personalized what we do; we help bring Jesus to his Church.” He sees the foundation’s legacy as “the continuity between the campaigns that had been run by the archdiocese in the past and will run into the future. I see the CSAF as a bridge.” The purpose of the new appeal, Parsons said, “is so the campaign can be both more effective in generating gifts and more efficient. … the big changes will probably be behind the scenes with systems, technology and processes to run a better and more efficient campaign.”