Catholics in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington were praised for their generosity in 2023 toward the #iGiveCatholic campaign centered around #GivingTuesday, a national day of giving to charitable causes on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Their generosity supported parishes, Catholic schools, Catholic agencies and a variety of ministries.

“#iGiveCatholic is an extraordinary opportunity for Catholics across the country to find and support their favorite causes leading up to, and on, #GivingTuesday,” said Joseph Gillmer, the Executive Director of Development for The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. 

Gillmer said that this year within the boundaries of the Archdiocese of Washington, Catholics made 3,751 gifts to 119 parishes, schools, church ministries and Catholic institutions totaling more than $792,000 from Nov. 13 through the #iGiveCatholic campaign on #GivingTuesday on Nov. 28. The number of donors increased by nearly 75% compared to last year.

Those overall figures include donations to the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, which is headquartered within the Archdiocese of Washington.

In the 2023 #iGiveCatholic campaign, 3,254 donors gave $724,588 toward 118 local Catholic ministries in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. The Archdiocese for the Military Services received $68,228.55 from 359 donors during the #iGiveCatholic campaign in 2023.

Praising that generosity among Catholics, Gillmer noted, “Since Catholic institutions began participating in #iGiveCatholic in in 2019, more than $2.5 million has been raised for hundreds of Catholic causes across the region. It is truly heartwarming to see such incredible response and generosity.” 

In an earlier interview, the archdiocesan official said, “We are blessed to have so many vibrant Catholic parishes, schools, ministries, and institutions strengthening our communities throughout the region and improving the lives of untold tens of thousands every day. It is an honor to support these incredible Catholic causes annually through #iGiveCatholic on #GivingTuesday.”

The Archdiocese of Washington first participated in #iGiveCatholic in 2019, with local Catholics raising $109,579. In 2020, Catholics in the archdiocese tripled that amount in donations to #iGiveCatholic, donating $329,864 to 106 participating Catholic entities. In the 2021 #iGiveCatholic campaign, local Catholics donated $455,290, and last year, they donated $770,036 during the drive.

In the 2023 #iGiveCatholic campaign, more than $20 million was raised nationwide for 1,870 Catholic parishes, schools and nonprofit ministries located in 50 participating dioceses during the U.S. Catholic Church’s giving day on #GivingTuesday, Nov. 28. Nationally, 58,822 donors participated in the 2023 #iGiveCatholic drive.

Reflecting on the nationwide response to the #iGiveCatholic campaign on #GivingTuesday, Lisa Schillace, the national director of #iGiveCatholic, said, “It has been so inspiring and heartening to watch so many videos, read so many testimonies, enjoy so many pictures depicting the vital programs that comprise our #iGiveCatholic community. Our #iGiveCatholic social media feed has become a beautiful tapestry of diverse and varied Catholic ministries! I truly believe it’s these authentic, human stories that moved our donors to be so generous.”

The ministries in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington receiving the most donations in the #iGiveCatholic campaign on #GivingTuesday included:

1. The Saint John Paul II Seminary, which ranked 10th in the amount raised nationally, with $250,360 in donations.
2. The 2023 Annual Appeal of the Archdiocese of Washington, which ranked 19^th nationally in the amount raised with $147,234 from 484 donors.
3. The Archdiocese’s Retired Priests Collection, which ranked 46^th nationally in the amount raised with $68,688 from 748 donors. 
4. Kidane-Mehret Ge’ez Rite Ethiopian Catholic Parish in Washington, D.C., which ranked 76^th nationally in the amount raised with $43,315 from 80 donors.
5. St. Dominic’s Parish in Washington, D.C., which ranked 94^th nationally in the amount raised with $35,845 from 54 donors.
6. The University of Maryland Catholic Student Center, with $22,586 from 174 donors. 
7. Mother of God School in Gaithersburg, Maryland, which raised $16,326 from 40 donors. 
8. The Archdiocese’s Community Food Security Program, which raised $16,057 from 276 donors.
9. Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish and School in Solomons, Maryland, which raised $8,425 from 85 donors.
10. American University’s Catholic Community which raised $7,525 from seven donors.

 Leaders from several of those Catholic institutions in the Archdiocese of Washington that raised the most money in the #iGiveCatholic campaign on #GivingTuesday expressed gratitude for the support they received and said it will have a great impact on their outreach and ministries.

Father Abayneh Gebremichael, the pastor of Kidane-Mehret Ethiopian Catholic Parish in Washington, noted that community was excited that Cardinal Wilton Gregory had elevated it to a parish on Dec. 8, 2023.

“For 40 years we have contributed to have a permanent home,” he said, noting that the $43,315 raised in the #iGiveCatholic campaign will help that community seek to build or buy a church for the Ethiopian Kidane-Mehret Parish in the Archdiocese of Washington, which has celebrated Masses at various locations over the years, including at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center in Hyattsville, Maryland. 

The priest added “We are very grateful for our Kidane-Mehret community, all our donors and the archdiocese’s development office,” and he expressed hope that the Catholic faithful will continue to support their effort to build or buy a church. 

Reacting to the $35,845 in #iGiveCatholic donations that his parish received in the recent campaign, Dominican Father George Schommer, the pastor of St. Dominic Parish in Washington, said, “I am so grateful for the parishioners and friends of St. Dominic’s for their financial support. The $20,000 we received as a matching gift challenge motivated the generosity of others. Now we have the resources to expand our sacred music program and enhance the beauty of our Sunday Masses.”

The Dominican priest added, “There were many organizations participating in #GivingTuesday making it difficult for people to decide which to support. The love for our little parish and the generous gifts given signaled that we are making a difference in people’s lives.”

Father Conrad Murphy, the chaplain at the Catholic Student Center at the University of Maryland in College Park, expressed gratitude for the $22,586 raised for the center in the #iGiveCatholic campaign.

“We are consistently overwhelmed by the generosity of the broader Catholic Terps community,” Father Murphy said, adding, “But it’s not a surprise when you get to know our students and our community. They are the ones who did a lot of the fundraising, personally reaching out to their peers, families and friends. When people see their joy and their love of the Gospel, you can’t not be inspired and want to join in. The gifts we receive all go directly to our ministry, to spreading the Good News further on a large and lonely campus where young people are starving for an authentic encounter with Christ.”

Jennifer Thompson, the principal of Our Lady Star of the Sea School in Solomons in Southern Maryland, said the $8,425 donated to their parish and school will have a lasting impact there.

“I am so very grateful for all of the support that was given to Our Lady Star of the Sea during the #iGiveCatholic campaign,” Thompson said. “Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish has shown its support of the school many times in the past. Our school has grown from 103 students five years ago to 185 currently! We would not be where we are today without the incredibly generous support of the parish community.”

The Our Lady Star of the Sea School principal added, “It has been my goal this school year, our 90^th year anniversary, to unite school and parish into one big OLSS family. One of the best ways to do this is to create a physical space where school families and parishioners can hold separate events, but more importantly meet and spend time together in prayer, fellowship and celebration.  That space would be our Providence Room, named for our dear Sisters of the Congregation of Divine Providence” who taught at the school for many decades.

She noted that the chairs and blinds in the Providence Room have needed to be replaced. “With the money given through the iGiveCatholic campaign, we can now afford to make these replacements and create a beautiful space to go along with our beautiful view!” Thompson said. Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish and School are located on a scenic, peaceful spot overlooking where the Chesapeake Bay meets the mouth of the Patuxent River. 

“I am incredibly grateful to all of those very generous people who supported our giving campaign and who have made the Providence Room refurbishment dream come true!” the Our Lady Star of the Sea principal said, adding, “ What a wonderful 90^th anniversary gift!”