PROSPECT HEIGHTS — The readers of The Tablet stepped up in a big way this past holiday season, helping make this the brightest Christmas ever for children and families throughout the Diocese of Brooklyn and beyond.
Every year, The Tablet conducts the Bright Christmas campaign to ensure that no child goes without a gift on Christmas. Last year, they raised $106,604, and this year, the goal was $115,000.
The Bright Christmas Fund exceeded expectations by raising a total of $121,749.02, which helped push the total amount collected over the campaign’s 10 years over $1 million.
The donations helped various schools, churches, and organizations within the diocese make Christmas memorable for children and families in need during this holiday season.
The contributions also helped offer needed funds to the Diocese of Owensboro, after they suffered the devastating effects of tornadoes that swept through Kentucky at the end of 2021.
Among this year’s other recipients were diocesan schools including Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Academy, where the school raised money by creating tree ornaments that they sold for 25 cents each.
According to Principal Joseph Venticinque, Bright Christmas helped supplement the children’s efforts.
“For over 10 years we’ve been involved with Bright Christmas,” Venticinque said, giving students the opportunity to buy a tree ornament, decorate it, and use it to adorn a tree posted outside the school office, “with the goal of helping make Christmas brighter for those less fortunate.”
Other schools receiving funds included: Ss. Joachim and Anne School and St. Ingrid-St. Frances Catholic Academy where Principal Marcia Soria explained that along with buying toys for kids, some of the money received would be used towards a much-needed computer lab for the academy.
“Our goal is to add coding to our curriculum,” Soria said. “When kids learn to code they gain important technical skills that can lead to a career or inform the path they take,” she added.
Parishes requesting and receiving funds included the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph-St. Teresa Avila, where Father Christopher Heanue said the money would be used to buy gifts for the children of the parish to celebrate the Three Kings Day feast and to help aid individual families who are struggling financially.
Vanessa Garcia, director of religious education at St. Michael-St. Malachy Parish, said that in past years the Bright Christmas Fund has made a world of difference in the lives of the families in her parish.
“We have been able to buy gifts for the children during the Christmas season and have family dinners, shows, etc.,” Garcia said.
Other parishes receiving funds included Visitation of the Blessed Virgin, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, and St. James Cathedral Basilica.
The Bright Christmas Fund was also able to assist various organizations, such as Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens; Futures in Education; Make a Difference Christmas; Hour Children, which helps reunite mothers and children for the holidays; and Providence House, which was founded by four Catholic nuns with the goal of providing homeless women and children, some just out of prison, with transitional housing to help change their lives for the better.
Additionally, this year the fund helped support food pantries, like Brooklyn’s Reaching-Out Community Services and St. Francis Food Pantries and Shelters, whose efforts help to put holiday dinners on tables and gifts underneath the tree for many struggling families.
You can still help the campaign.
Any funds received after Three Kings Day will be added to next year’s Bright Christmas campaign.
Read Here: Bright Christmas Fund recipients say “thank you” to Tablet readers.