St. Anne and St. Patrick Parish in Fiskdale has surpassed its Partners in Charity fundraising goal, and Julie Glavin, the parish business manager, hopes that inspires other parishes to do the same.

“Join the club,” she said. “It feels really good when you do it.”
As of Tuesday, 30 of the 93 parishes in the diocese had met or surpassed their goals, according to Michael P. Gillespie, director of the diocesan Office of Stewardship and Development.
All the parishes have until the end of August to collect more contributions and pledges for Partners in Charity, which supports 26 charitable, educational and pastoral ministries in the Worcester Diocese.
By Tuesday, St. Anne and St. Patrick had collected $62,285, or 116 percent of its $53,800 goal, with 175 gifts, 11 more than all of last year, Mr. Gillespie said.
Ms. Glavin said the parish has raised the most money it ever raised in her eight years as business manager and reached its goal the earliest, the first week of May. Last year, the parish reached its goal, also $53,800, but did not surpass it, and has fallen short some years.
She isn’t sure why they surpassed the goal so early this year.
“I wish I could tell you we had a magic wand,” she said.
A variety of factors contributed. About half of the donors increased their gift this year. A third of the gifts came from people who didn’t give last year or didn’t ever give. Receiving a few larger gifts early on prompted others to contribute earlier than usual to help the parish reach its goal.
“Success breeds success,” Ms. Glavin said. “Where we were in Partners in Charity was in the bulletin every week. So, when people saw that all of a sudden we were at 60 percent of our goal, that’s when people said, ‘I need to give my gift now.’”
Assumptionist Father Luc Martel, temporary administrator of St. Anne and St. Patrick, “had a lot to do with it,” she said. “He really talked up Partners in Charity a lot. We’ve had three different ‘pastors’ in the eight years I’ve been there. So, it’s a different voice, and every one of them has a unique way of talking about Partners in Charity.”
Father Martel became temporary admin-
istrator last August. He and assocate
pastor, Father John Franck, are members of the Augustinians of the Assumption, a worldwide congregation of priests and brothers. Assumptionists, as they are often called, have served St. Anne and St. Patrick since 1955.
During the first week of the annual campaign in March, Father Martel spoke about Partners in Charity at the Masses.
“People responded very well,” he said, “and it was just a few weeks before we reached our goal.”
The parishioners were thrilled to reach the goal so early in the campaign.
“It’s a wonderful thing,” Father Martel said. “It’s necessary. This is the mission of the church.”
Assumptionist Father Alex Castro was pastor before leaving for Rome last year to become the Assumptionists’ treasurer general, a position Father Martel had held for 12 years.
Father Martel, a Southbridge native, was a missionary for 42 years – 24 years in Rome and 18 in Africa, in Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – before becoming associate pastor at St. Anne and St. Patrick.
“It’s a mighty big change, because all of my years I’ve been in administrative houses,” he said, “and in formation houses. My principal ministry has been finance.”
He called himself the “money man,” which came in handy when he called on his parishioners to donate to Partners in Charity.
“Well, it helps a little bit anyway,” he said.
The parish had just met its goal when he sent letters asking parishioners to continue to contribute - to help the diocese.
“It’s not over with,” Father Martel said. “The diocese still has a long ways to go.”
Partners in Charity has once again set a goal to raise $5 million, after falling just short of that the past few years. As of Tuesday, the diocese had raised $3,862,060 or 77 percent of its goal, with 9,810 gifts, Mr. Gillespie said.
St. Anne and St. Patrick, along with the other parishes in the diocese, will continue to accept donations through the end of August.
Ms. Glavin said the parish has 500-600 active families. It made its goal from contributions from 175 of them.
“It’s taken a couple of years to get people out of ‘COVID mode,’” she said
of effects of the pandemic.
“A lot of people have not returned,” Father Martel said. “So, it’s difficult to make ends meet. But my parishioners have always been very generous when
it comes to needs.”

– Editor’s Note: Donations to Partners in Charity can be made in several ways: online at partners-charity.net/donate, by texting DONATE to 84576, by calling 508-929-4366, or by giving a check at your parish or mailing it to Partners in Charity Appeal, Diocese of Worcester, 49 Elm Street, Worcester, MA 01609. Checks should be made payable to “Partners in Charity Appeal” and the parish na me should be noted in the memo line.