In a season stuffed with spending, advertisements for “Black Friday” are ubiquitous, “Small Business Saturday” posters line coffee-shop bulletin boards and “Cyber Monday” deals barrage email inboxes.
“Giving Tuesday,” the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, may be the least-well-known of the lot.
For the second year, the Archdiocese of Louisville is joining 50 other U.S. dioceses to “Give Catholic” on Giving Tuesday — which falls on Dec. 3 this year.
#iGiveCatholic is an annual day of giving with parishes and schools at the center. It’s an opportunity for them to ask for funding for a project that isn’t in the budget, said Molly Keene Smith, director of the Archdiocese of Louisville’s Office of Mission Advancement.
The archdiocese’s parishes and schools will join the initiative for the second time. During the archdiocese’s inaugural year in 2023, 900 donors gave $220,437 to 35 parishes and schools, according to a report from the Office of Mission Advancement last December.
The initiative is not just for current parishioners and families of the identified parishes and schools — although it certainly is for them, too — noted Keene Smith. It’s also a way for individuals to give back to their roots in the Archdiocese of Louisville, such as those who grew up in a parish but live elsewhere now.
“They can still support their alma mater or parish. This program allows those who have that loyalty and are grateful for the formation they received there” to donate, said Keene Smith.
Twenty-eight parishes and schools in the archdiocese are participating this year.
Among them are Ascension Church, which plans to use this year’s campaign funds to replace its playground surfaces. A successful campaign last year improved campus safety, providing funds for security cameras, lighting and window film.
St. Aloysius Church and School in Pewee Valley, Ky., will continue its efforts from last year’s #iGiveCatholic campaign. In 2023, the parish used the campaign’s proceeds to change the light fixtures on the school’s first floor to more efficient LED lights. This year, the proceeds will fund lighting on the second floor and at the church’s main entrance.
St. Leonard Church plans to build accessible access to the church and parish house.
Funds donated to Holy Trinity Church will help the parish replace its kneelers.
Giving Tuesday is Dec. 3, but advanced giving begins Nov. 18. Donations can be given at louisville.igivecatholic.org and will support the project identified by each parish and school.
The Archdiocese of Louisville participants are:
- Ascension Church
- Cathedral of the Assumption
- Corpus Christi Classical Academy, Shelbyville, Ky.
- Holy Angels Academy
- Holy Name Church
- Holy Rosary Church, Springfield, Ky.
- Holy Spirit School
- Holy Trinity Church
- John Paul II Academy
- St. Francis Xavier Church, Mt. Washington
- St. John Paul II Church
- St. Martin de Porres Church
- St. Charles Church, Lebanon, Ky.
- St. Joseph Church, Louisville
- St. Aloysius Church and School, Pewee Valley, Ky.
- St. Francis Xavier Church, Raywick, Ky.
- St. Michael Church and School
- St. Peter the Apostle Church
- St. Paul Church
- St. Raphael Church
- St. Francis of Assisi Church
- St. Leonard Church
- St. Dominic Church, Springfield, Ky.
- St. Albert the Great Church
- St. Rose Priory, Springfield, Ky.
- St. Bernadette Church, Prospect, Ky.
- St. Augustine Church, Louisville, Ky.
- The Shrine of St. Martin of Tours
