Update on Matching Gift Campaign

Dear friends of Martin Saints Classical High School,

I love the quiet days of the octave after Christmas. The world has moved on and the commercial side to Christmas has exhausted itself. But in these quieter days, the Church is still celebrating. I find it easier to breathe and savor the miracle of God's Incarnation. 

I thought you might like an update regarding our end-of-year matching challenge. In the last two weeks, 42 donors have come forward with gifts and pledges totaling $48,355. 

As I wrote two weeks ago, what is happening at this school is exciting and humbling. God is at work. We offer everything to Him and seek to be completely transparent and available for whatever our Lord has in mind.

We are within inches of our $50,000 goal. To those who have donated, thank you. To those still considering a gift, I encourage you to push us over the edge this week, if possible. Our matching donor will write the matching check on Friday, so there is still time to contact us with a pledge, to give online, or to mail a check.

To recap: in mid-December, a generous anonymous donor gave $50,000 to support Martin Saints. This inspired a second donor to issue a challenge: all gifts up to $50,000 would be matched. In other words, we faced the opportunity to raise $150,000: 50K from the first donor, 50K in new donations, and 50K in matching gifts.

Benefactors in the last two weeks have included some people you would expect: school parents and grandparents, faculty, parishioners, board members. But also single people, elderly people, consecrated religious, retired teachers, and clergy from other parishes. In other words, some donors will never have children of their own at our school. They are not giving out of self-interest. Rather, I think they give out of a commitment to the Church. I think they see in Martin Saints a hint of what local Catholic institutions need to be in the 21st century: always open to the world's goodness and needs, but also deeply and intentionally rooted in Catholic fidelity, doing our best to be discerning about pitfalls in modern culture.

This year, our tuition level makes us the least expensive high school in the archdiocese. Remaining affordable for ordinary families, often with many children, is also part of our mission. But that means there will always be a gap between our tuition income and what it really costs to educate our students. We will always need donors who believe in our mission and who want Martin Saints to flourish as an offering for the wider Church.

One final thought: please consider forwarding this email to your family and friends. We have received donations from two other states and two foreign countries. Benefactors do not need to be local - they just need to be people who believe in the mission.

Donors can give via credit card directly from our homepage - www.martinsaintsclassical.org - or you can mail a check to the address at the bottom of this email. You can also contact me personally and confidentially with a pledge, or with any questions or concerns, either by email or at school, 267-495-4865 (ext. 110).

Merry Christmas, happy new year, and thank you for your consideration.

Deacon Christopher C. Roberts, Ph.D.
President of the Board