Variaan Vink, a third-grader at St. Augustine School in Winnebago, colors during class. The Joy of Giving Day May 19 helped the mission raise more than $14,000 to help pay for classroom technology. ST. AUGUSTINE INDIAN MISSION

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Joy of Giving Day brings in record donations

The Archdiocese of Omaha wrapped up its 24-hour Joy of Giving Day May 19 with more than 2,000 donors contributing more than $720,000 to 104 participating Catholic organizations, parishes and schools.

The day broke giving records and involved more giving options than in the past because of a decision to include Catholic organizations in all 23 counties of the archdiocese, said Shannan Brommer, director of Stewardship and Development for the archdiocese.

“I am humbled by the generosity of so many donors who continue to support the efforts of our parishes, schools and ministries in the Archdiocese of Omaha,” Brommer said.

“I want to express my gratitude to the members of the Joy of Giving Planning Committee who led this effort to its successful conclusion and helped lay a strong foundation for future day of giving events,” she said.

The day of giving came about after the Omaha Gives! fundraiser, in which Catholic entities in the Omaha area previously participated, changed its focus in 2021 and became SHARE Omaha, funding only nonprofits that rely on community-wide support, but excluding institutions such as churches, schools and membership-oriented groups that have their own specific donor base.

That extension to rural archdiocesan organizations helped St. Augustine Indian Mission in Winnebago, which finished 12th in donations overall on the Joy of Giving’s leaderboard at omaha.igivecatholictogether.org/.

“We just want to say thank you to everyone who thought of us and included us in this giving effort,” said Rebecca Meyer, director of development for the mission. “The mission relies almost solely on outside contributions … this was a great opportunity.”

Meyer said the donations will help purchase clergy vestments, altar linens and classroom technology for the Indian Mission’s school and four parishes.

Being able to join with the other organizations in the archdiocese to promote giving was a “stroke of genius,” Meyer said.

“I’m so grateful that the Stewardship and Development staff at the Archdiocese of Omaha took this on, because I know there were a lot of organizations in Omaha who would have missed out on the change from Omaha Gives! to Omaha SHARE.”

“We had no idea what to expect, and we just thought it would be a fun way to promote the mission … we were so grateful that people took the time to support us,” she said.

Echoing that sentiment was Mike Masek, president of Jesuit Academy in north Omaha, which finished in second place.

“I’m overwhelmed by the generosity of the supporters for our mission down here at the school,” Masek said. “(We) just really received a lot of God’s goodness and love.”

“The opening of the heart of these individuals (to give) to our mission … it was just moments like that were inspiring,” he said.

Masek said that the donations would fund scholarships, technology and the development of the academy’s STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) program.

For more information on each organization’s individual results, visit omaha.igivecatholictogether.org/leaderboards.

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