Foundation secures financial future for parishes and schools
SALT LAKE CITY — From programs promoting adults’ spiritual growth to scholarships for children in parochial schools, the needs of Utah’s parishes, missions, schools and Religious are deep and diverse. For the past 25 years, the Catholic Foundation of Utah has been working to secure permanent funding for these needs in parishes and schools statewide through endowments established by local Catholics. The foundation, which is a separate entity from the diocese, was formed in November 1984; its first president was the Most Rev. William K. Weigand, then bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City. Lew Joseph was the executive director. "Bishop Weigand established the foundation so that it could benefit the long-term giving, so people could give gifts in perpetuity, and to benefit the long-term financial needs of the Catholic Church in Utah," said Jennifer Carroll, the current executive director. Through the foundation, Catholics can establish endowments that provides for a specific need of their choosing, whether it’s for the general operation of a parish, maintenance of the Cathedral of the Madeleine or a scholarship at a parochial schools. Since the foundation’s inception, more than 200 endowments totaling more than $24 million have been established throughout the state of Utah. Although the greater Salt Lake area has the highest concentration of Catholics, and well as most of the schools and parishes, there are two schools in northern Utah and plenty of parishes scattered throughout the rest of the state. One of the endowments benefitting northern Utah is the Michael L. and Maury D. Joseph Endowment. "It’s a very rich area up here as far as Catholic opportunities and needs," said Michael Joseph, a Holy Family parishioner. Three generations of his family have graduated from St. Joseph Catholic High School; he and his wife returned to Ogden in 1984 to raise their family. He and Maury (known as Denny) have donated to Catholic efforts for many years, but when they decided two years ago to establish a fund for long-term needs, they determined that the foundation was the best way to do so. "The reality is that no single institution has the ability, outside the foundation, for people to handle multiple needs, multiple projects, unless they handle it themselves," Joseph said. "What we found was that it was so much easier to work with Jennifer and the foundation, set the money in there, have them manage it, and then disperse it as we needed to the various institutions. " The alternative, he added, "is to go to some kind of a brokerage company and set up a charitable account, and then you have a lot of paperwork that you go through. The foundation has totally streamlined it and is focused on Catholic needs." Like the Josephs, Ted and Robyn Schaefer saw a long-term need and chose the foundation as the mechanism to address it. The Ted & Robyn Schaefer Endowment benefits Christ the King Catholic Church in Cedar City. "It sets up some capital for the parish to have for an indefinite, long period of time," Ted Schaefer said. He and his wife chose to benefit their parish because "it somehow has brought Robyn and I back around to focusing more on our faith than we ever had before, and we attribute it to the people and the way things have been there for many many years, because it was all in place when we got there nine years ago," he said. "I believe that his type of money, whether it be mine or others that hopefully will come in, will make our parish more permanent and more wealthy than just putting it into the collection plate." After determining that they wanted to donate to the parish, Schaefer investigated the foundation and found that establishing the endowment was "every, very easy and very, very efficient. I checked on the cost and overhead, and they’re very, very low. They have the ability to take any amount of money, nearly, and put it to work. All I had to do was write a check." While the foundation is celebrating its Silver Jubilee, Carroll sees plenty of work ahead. "Our biggest goal to that every Catholic in Utah has the Church in their will and estate planning," she said. "If there was that constant flow coming in, we would have financial security as Catholics." The foundation plans to celebrate its Silver Jubilee all year, beginning with a dinner with the Most Rev. John C. Wester, bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, in December.
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