Thanks to the generosity of The Tablet’s readers, the annual Bright Christmas campaign raised $106,149.72, topping last year’s total by nearly $2,000.
The donations received helped schools, churches, and organizations in the Diocese of Brooklyn provide children and families with the means for a memorable Christmas.
The fund, created to ensure that every child has a gift waiting under the tree, has once again touched the lives of many by making Christmas a more joyful time for those in need.
Among the Diocese of Brooklyn churches and parishes receiving Bright Christmas funds were the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Solace in Coney Island, St. Michael-St. Malachy in East New York, Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Jamaica, St. Clare in Rosedale, St. John the Baptist in Brooklyn, St. Joan of Arc in Jackson Heights, and St. Jude Shrine in Canarsie.
Bright Christmas allows St. Jude Shrine to hold a Christmas celebration for the parish children, which youth minister Helen Tiefer said, “helps spread the joy of Christmas.”
Father Christopher Heanue, pastor at St. Joan of Arc, said that Bright Christmas provides gifts for the children in the parish.
“The long lines of children at both the 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Masses were truly incredible to witness,” Father Heanue said. “It was a powerful sign of a parish that is alive, growing, and centered on families.”
Organizations that received donations from the Bright Christmas fund included the Sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood, Make a Difference Christmas, Reaching Out Community Services, The Bridge to Life, Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens, and St. Francis House.
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St. Francis House Director Joseph Campo said he was grateful for the funds.
“We have survived since 1967 on donations,” Campo said. “I can honestly say that The Tablet’s Bright Christmas Fund truly makes Christmas brighter for our family at St. Francis House.”
The campaign dates back decades, to the 1960s, when Tablet Editor Deacon Donald Zirkel saw the financial struggles many families faced in making the holidays happy for children, and Bright Christmas was born. Deacon Zirkel’s son, Tim, and his wife have continued his father’s legacy by contributing to the fund every year.
This year, in addition to his own donation to Bright Christmas, Tim Zirkel and his siblings honored their father by donating the remainder of his estate to Bright Christmas.
“I’m sure the Bright Christmas fund will benefit from the heartfelt words about its importance,” Zirkel said about stories in The Tablet. “So, thanks on behalf of my dad and our family.”
And thanks to Deacon Zirkel and his family, we have the Bright Christmas Fund that continues to help make Christmas brighter for so many families, and a legacy of giving that has lasted for nearly 60 years.
