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To Teach Who Christ Is Campaign Update

As many of you are aware, Our Lady of the Wayside launched the Archdiocese of Chicago’s To Teach Who Christ Is campaign in 2015.  For many of you, your five-year pledge commitment is coming to an end.  I thought now would be a good time to give you an update on the program and how it has benefited our parish.

The focus of the campaign was to strengthen parishes, benefit Catholic education and enhance faith formation throughout the Archdiocese.  The program was designed such that 65% of the pledges collected would benefit the parish and 35% would benefit the Archdiocese’s initiatives.  Each parish submitted a case study identifying areas of improvement specific to their needs.  Here at Our Lady of the Wayside, two specific areas were identified: Church renovations and replacement of the elementary and middle school windows.  The budget for Church renovations was $1,160,000 and school window replacement is $800,000.

Here is a breakdown of how we are doing as of August 31, 2020:

• Donor Count:  485
• TTWCI Goal:  $2,600,000
• Amount Pledged:  $2,601,317
• Amount Collected:  $2,021,945
• Pledges Cancelled:  $167,378
• No Pay Pledges:  $103,800
• Past Due Pledges:  $295,216
• Forecast of Collected Pledges:  $2,034,992
• Pledge Fulfillment Rate:  78%

The following is a general itemization of what has been spent and the current available balance:

• 2017 Church Renovations:  $756,000
• 2017 Organ Refurbishment:  $28,000
• Available for window replacement:  $560,000*

*As of July 31, 2020

As you can see, we are going to fall short of the amount needed to replace all the school windows. We anticipate replacing the windows during the summer of 2021, using the available funds in our To Teach Who Christ Is account.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Deacon Peter LeTourneau, Interim Operations Director, 224-518-1779.