Catholic Charities of Louisville’s annual Mardi Gras party aims to draw 500 revelers to celebrate and learn about the agency’s work March 4 at the Mellwood Arts Center, 1860 Mellwood Avenue.
“We want people to know about what we do,” said Lisa DeJaco Crutcher, CEO of the agency. “And we want people to know there is joy in helping others. This is not a seated dinner with a hard ask. Our event is a party; it’s a party with a purpose.”
That purpose, DeJaco Crutcher said, is to celebrate the work, appreciate the supporters and invite others “to get to know us.”
Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre is also extending an invitation to the community.
“Rouler is a wonderful event that supports the work of Catholic Charities of Louisville,” he said in a press release about the event. “The proceeds will benefit the essential programs that help our most vulnerable neighbors and provide hope for those in need.
“I invite you to join me for the best Mardi Gras party in town,” added Archbishop Fabre, a native of Louisiana and a former auxiliary bishop of New Orleans.
DeJaco Crutcher noted that the joy people feel at Mardi Gras and other parties can also be found in charitable work.
“We want people to think of Catholic Charities as a joyful part of our church,” she said. “With any of our programs, you can look at it two ways. You can look at it as a story of sadness, or you can look at it as a joy — helping people get what they need. We want to focus on the joy.”
“There are so many different things that we do and so many ways to plug into Catholic Charities,” she said, from offering donations and in-kind gifts to administrative work, like filing records, to direct assistance, such as helping someone select groceries at a food pantry.
“It might not sound uplifting, but it has never failed to improve my day,” she said. “It feels good to help other people.”
DeJaco Crutcher noted that recent “executive orders are changing some of what we do.”
“We are not expecting to welcome new arrivals anytime soon,” through the refugee resettlement process. “But we still have work to do. Refugees are entitled to services for two to five years after they arrive. That means we have about 8,000 people we need to help acquaint with our community.”
People and whole parishes can lend their support to these newcomers, she noted.
“We’re all called to participate in society, to get involved, to help each other. And you can get acquainted with it at Rouler. Celebrate the good being done in your name in this community,” she said.
The Rouler fundraiser provides a “significant percentage of our unrestricted fundraising,” she noted.
“Unrestricted funds are the hardest to raise,” she said. “We often hear from grant-making entities, ‘We don’t want to fund salaries.’ They’re going to pay for $50,000 of food, but not a person who can be there to empty the truck. Unrestricted funds help us meet needs like that.”
Tickets to Rouler (pronounced roo-LAY), are $100 per person, available at cclou.org/mardigras2025.
The event, from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., will feature casino-style games, live music, New Orleans-style food and drinks and a silent auction. The emcee will be Dawne Gee.
