What's This About A Charity Endowment?
The recent issues of Solia have
publicized the establishment of The Archbishop's Charity Endowment Fund. In
making its decision, the Episcopate Council truly took a bold step. However,
creating an endowment specifically to generate funds for charitable purposes is
a worthy goal. In fact, it is of the very nature of Christ's Church to help the
poor and the needy. We are "to practice Christian charity as demanded by
Holy Scripture and Tradition and to seek out and provide charitable assistance
to those in need." [Episcopate By-laws]
We all (individually and as
parishes) receive requests for charity via direct-mail appeals, personal
letters, news media, etc. The validity of each supposed need has to be weighed.
Our response has to be weighed against our means. The urgency of one need has
to be weighed against another, etc. Ultimately, our decision to act or not is a
matter of the heart, because even if our only possible response is a token
dollar amount; it is, nevertheless, at least an expression of our good will and
our desire to help in some way, a response to Christ's mandate to love and
share our blessings with others.
Unfortunately, regardless of its
desire, our diocese has never really had the means to even consider the daily
pleas it receives for help. Of course, we could never respond to every request.
But, our Church can (- and the Episcopate Council feels it must!) provide the
means to at least respond in a better, more immediate and efficient way, than
has been possible.
When we became aware of the
desperate humanitarian needs of people in Romania, following 1989, we established
a "Help for Romania" fund. From this, our need to respond to other
equally legitimate charitable issues was made even more apparent. Thus, the
Department of Christian Assistance came about, and continues to be managed by
the Episcopate Council. It has its defined purpose; and, despite extremely
limited funds, it still strives to be of benefit.
But, there has always been a real
need and desire to respond more immediately to those very personal (and often,
necessarily confidential) calls for help. This is the proposed goal of The
Archbishop's Charity Endowment Fund. It is meant to be a stable source of
income for charitable action; a $100,000.00 fund from which only the interest
will be used.
For twenty years, our hierarch has
been recognized as a leader among others, a compassionate and trustworthy
archpastor, a "Father in Christ." Therefore, establishing this
endowment in honor of the Archbishop's Twentieth Anniversary is a small, yet
dignified, way to demonstrate our gratitude to God for the years of faithful
stewardship His Eminence has shared with us. He is the one who receives the
requests and is made aware of various needs. He is the one to whom the hearts
of people are opened. He, therefore, can best judge how or if the diocese, his
spiritual children, should respond in Christ's name. The Fund will not be his,
except to direct the distribution of available interest, according to the
guidelines of the Episcopate Council.
This Fund is to be an integral
part of diocesan finances. It will be legally audited along with all diocesan
funds. The only difference is that in order to respect personal dignity and
pride, the names of the grant recipients will be kept confidential, at the
discretion of the Archbishop. This is the procedure followed in other Orthodox
and non-Orthodox communities that routinely entrust one or more of such
discretionary funds to the leadership.
People call on the Church for help
- sometimes as a last resort. They turn to the Lord, therefore, hoping and
praying that He will help them, through us His Family. Won't you help establish
this Fund for that purpose? Needy people are praying, "Lord, listen to my
cry for help."
Archpriest
Laurence Lazar, Secretary
Episcopate Council