Tim Zirkel has accomplished a great deal in his life and career, and he credits his success to the values his father, Donald, and mother, Marie, instilled in him. His father, Donald, who was editor of The Tablet from 1966 to 1985 and served as a deacon in the diocese, created the Bright Christmas campaign in the 1960s.
The Tablet’s time-honored tradition of raising money to ensure every child has a gift to open on Christmas morning has officially begun, and we are asking our readers to contribute what they can to the 2025 Bright Christmas campaign.
The Christmas season was once again a little bit brighter for children and families in the Diocese of Brooklyn and beyond, thanks to the generosity of Tablet readers who heeded the call to help the less fortunate.
The director of religious education at St. Michael-St. Malachy Parish in East New York, Vanessa Garcia-Pinedo said that she strives to maintain the parish’s family dynamic by having parents involved as much as possible.
Matthew Schiller knows all too well the kind of difference Bright Christmas makes in people’s lives. Having worked as The Tablet’s business manager from 1973 to 1993, he was directly involved with the campaign and learned firsthand how the funds raised would help put a toy in a child’s hands and a smile on their face.
Msgr. Richard Ahlemeyer, pastor at St. Camillus-St. Virgilius Parish, knows very well the value of Bright Christmas.
Maria Garces is an assistant preschool teacher for a community based organization that services low-income families who also volunteers as a religious education coordinator at Our Lady of Solace Church in Coney Island. Seeking to solicit funds to help buy toys for the 142 Catholic Sunday school students in the parish, she reached out to The Tablet.
Bay Ridge-born and raised William McKenna knows very well what The Tablet’s Bright Christmas campaign can do. Even after moving first to New Jersey and then retiring to Saugerties, New York, the former president, chairman and CEO of Ridgewood Savings Bank has been a generous donor to Bright Christmas for over 40 years.
For Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Academy Principal Joseph Venticinque, Christmas is all about kids helping kids. That’s why every year he encourages students to raise money to help those who are lacking presents at Christmas time. And there’s even more encouragement: The Tablet’s Bright Christmas fund helps supplement the money the students raise on their own.
Once again, it was a memorable Bright Christmas campaign! At the end of a challenging, and quite frankly, devastating year, The Tablet’s readers showed that despite the pandemic and an economic crisis, they remain truly generous. For that, we say thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
