Three major capital campaigns, seeking to collectively raise nearly $22 million, have been met with strong support, say officials with Subiaco Abbey, Immaculate Conception in Fort Smith and Christ the King Church in Little Rock. As a result, fundraising milestones are being reached and designated projects begun ahead of expectations.
“We’re very pleased not only with what we have been able to raise, but how quickly we’ve been able to raise it,” said Mary Catherine Burney, director of fundraising at Christ the King. “It speaks to how generous the people of this parish are and how much they love their church.”
“A Growing Church for a Growing Faith,” Christ the King’s first-ever campaign, kicked off Nov. 17, and to date, has raised $7.27 million of its $10.5 million goal. In all, 53 percent of registered families have made pledges, including a $1 million anonymous gift and several larger gifts for naming rights to various portions of the projects.
The improvements list includes building a storm shelter that doubles as multipurpose space, adding classrooms to Christ the King School, including Spanish and special needs rooms, adding a conference room and nurse’s office.
Church improvements include upgrading the adoration chapel and construction of a columbarium. Burney said interest is particularly high in the columbarium, which is expected to initially offer about 450 burial niches.
“We’ve already had 13 people call and inquire about reserving a space,” she said. “This is without any advertising at all. In fact, we can’t even tell them what the niches are going to cost them. It’s something people really see a need for in the future.”
As per previous announcements, $6.5 million was the milestone necessary to greenlight almost every project, including expansion of the school cafeteria into the Family Life Center. Burney said work will likely start at the end of the school term.
The one remaining project — constructing a Family Life Center including a larger kitchen and bookstore, welcome center, gathering space and social hall capable of seating up to 494 people — is slated to be addressed later, using funds over the first $6.5 million plus whatever additional pledges are collected. The center’s current amenities and space are well shy of the needs of Christ the King, Little Rock’s largest Catholic parish.
Work is already underway at Immaculate Conception Church where parishioners have thus far pledged $2.77 million of its $3.2 million goal. The goal was increased over the original announced target as a result of parish committees re-evaluating needs for the 65-year old church and its school.
Cindy McNally, parish business manager, said even though planned kickoffs, phone-a-thons and other campaign activities were disrupted by bad weather, parishioners still responded in earnest to the first capital campaign in decades. Currently, 31 percent of the parish’s 1,800 registered families have committed to “Restoring to Glory” which launched last October.
“It’s a very exciting time for our parish,” she said. “People can see the work that’s going on and we’re hoping that inspires some of our families who haven’t participated yet to get on board and get us to our goal.”
Among the projects underway is the conversion of the former Abilities Unlimited building on Garrison Avenue into the parish’s new youth ministries building. An anonymous donor donated the structure and capital campaign funds were earmarked to gut and reconfigure the interior to include a social space, 200-seat auditorium with stage, a kitchen, chapel and youth director’s office. McNally said the building should be completed by mid-May, with a dedication scheduled for early June.
“We’re also looking at architectural plans for the renovation of the St. Anne’s building,” she said in reference to the parish’s oldest structure, a former school and convent built in 1875 that was converted to parish use in 2001. While structurally sound, it requires extensive renovation of all internal systems and bringing the building into compliance for fire containment and access by disabled people.
McNally also said talks had begun with local firms bidding on work restoring and re-covering the church’s stained glass windows as well as several smaller projects in the school, set to be completed this summer.
Subiaco Abbey’s “Continuing the Tradition … A Campaign for Subiaco” received such an outpouring of support for its cause that more than half of the desired funds were pledged before the campaign was even publicly announced. The impressive level of giving hasn’t abated, as more than 650 donors have contributed $6.59 million, 82 percent of the $8 million target announced last summer.
“I’ve been here 12 years, and I always knew how much people respected the monks and the work they did,” said Glenn Constantino, procurator. “But to see this level of support, this outpouring of love for this community is just overwhelming.
The bulk of contributions have been from Subiaco Academy alumni and their families, but money has come in from unexpected sources. Employees’ contributions were matched by a challenge grant. Monks’ families have been active in the campaign and alumni networked within their own circles of friends and associates.
“Alums would go out and promote the campaign among people they knew,” Constantino said. “As a result, we’ve gained awareness and pledges from people who had never had any association with us before.”
An initial $1 million has been invested to fund monks’ health care and about $50,000 worth of technology and communication needs have been addressed. The original 1960s vintage windows at the Coury House Retreat Center have also been replaced.
Remaining projects include additional investment in monks’ health care and retirement and education and formation of young monks. Goals for the academy include renovating the main residence hall into classrooms, with offices and a 10,000-square-foot gathering space and dormitory on the second floor, upgrades to the academy’s performing arts center, building new tennis courts and buying or building new faculty housing.
“As we continue the work of this campaign, we know that success is powered by motivation and positive energy,” said Abbot Jerome Kodell, OSB, via the abbey website. “Today the monks and staff of Subiaco Abbey and Academy are experiencing some of the strongest positive energy one can imagine.”
