With the turning of a new year, budget plans spring to mind. How much will we be able to save this year? How much will we spend? How much will we be able to give? And to whom shall we give? This is the all-important decision.
We all have our principle causes that we feel passionate about. For my husband and I, we enjoy giving money to children’s charities that aid in 3rd world countries. The smiling faces in the photos and the yearly school reports are always an exciting affirmation that our charity money is “going somewhere good”. Then there’s always church commitments and various local charities that we all feel compelled to donate to. With so many needs, and limited funds, it is impossible to give to every out-stretched hand.
When we were first approached to attend an annual fundraiser for the Ukrainian Catholic University, we went as a favor to a friend. We figured we would listen politely, drink some free wine, maybe write a small check and go home… Well, all I can say is, that didn’t happen.
For a year and a half now I have been serving as secretary on the committee for the Montreal Friends of UCU and helped put on a fundraiser last year. My husband Marko and I are also sponsoring a bright young theology student named Petro. "What happened?" you ask. We heard something we believed in.
My husband is first generation Ukrainian American. Like so many other Ukrainians, his family was forced out during World War II. His first language was Ukrainian and his parents worked very hard to instill the old traditions in him. When he married me- a non-Ukrainian, we decided to keep up those traditions and had planned to teach our future children them. Unfortunately, we were never blessed with children. This was the reason we became so involved in children’s charities. We took solace in knowing that we indeed did have children that we loved, supported and prayed for- they just lived in other countries.
When we attended our first UCEF fundraiser, we heard Father Gudziak speak about the University’s future. As scientists, we were interested in their new and expanding Bioethics program– the only one of its kind in Eastern Europe. We were also impassioned by the idea of building up a young generation of businessmen, journalists, and care givers that had a strong moral and ethical principles. But the thing that moved my husband most was the feeling that as a Ukrainian, he was giving something back to the country that his parents loved so much and never wanted to leave. We knew that we should give but like I said, it is hard to give to everyone who asks. So the question was, could we give.
We did not want to sacrifice any of the donations we already committed to, nor did we want to cut into our savings. We learned however, that there are many programs and giving plans at UCEF and you would be surprised at how little it takes to help out in a tremendous way. With the help of UCEF in Canada we set up a sponsorship with a planned monthly giving plan that fits our budget. It is easy on our pockets to divide the payments out over the year and also helpful since I don’t need to remember to write a check. The best part though is that we are blessed with not only one more young person to care for and pray for, but with a whole new generation!
Written by- Lori Dawn Horb
0 comments:
Post a Comment