20 Prestwick Road SE
Our parish, St. Albert the Great, was formed in SE Calgary two and a half years ago. We currently hold mass in the schools of Monsignor Smith in Douglasdale and Cardinal Newman in McKenzie. About 1,000 people attend mass each weekend from the communities of Douglasdale, McKenize Lake, McKenzie Towne, Cranston and Chaparral. Our masses are filled to capacity, so we’ve begun building a church.
The Diocese just purchased 4.2-acres of land in the Village of Prestwick in McKenzie Towne to be the future home of St. Albert the Great. To obtain the best price on the land, however, the Bishop had to commit to begin construction very quickly. We must break ground by October 2001!
The preliminary cost estimate from our architects is significantly more than the $3.5 million we had originally estimated it would cost us to build a church. (Mostly because the church is significantly larger than we envisioned.) The Diocese will finance 60% of the building cost so we need to raise 40% ourselves. We are working with the architects to scale back the cost and will have a final figure within a few weeks. As time is of the essence, however, we are asking for your help now to reach our original target. Although we will ultimately need to raise significantly more, we are looking for your help in reaching our original $1.4 million target immediately.
In the last year we’ve done lots of fundraising. We currently have cash and pledges of more than $1.1 million.
We’ve held a pledge campaign. We’ve sold Entertainment books. We’ve had a bake sale and spaghetti dinners. We’ve run a fundraiser through our schools. We just completed a home-based-business fair, are putting the finishing touches on a Pictorial Directory, and are planning a Silent Auction for February—all in support of our Building Fund. We have great support from our parishioners, our CWL and our Knights of Columbus. But, it is not enough.
We need your help. We simply don’t have the population base now to support this project. We are expected to build a church that will seat 1,200 to 1,500 people per mass whereas we currently have a population that seats only 350 to 450 people at each mass. St. Albert the Great is intended to serve all anticipated growth in the SE area.
We’ve examined building a church that can be supported by our current population. That would be significantly more costly, however, in the long run. It would be an expensive mistake to build small today and undergo a significant expansion in the (near) future.
A special relationship exists between this parish and St. Albert’s. Many of our parishioners were members here. In fact, many of our future parishioners are likely still members here. You, or your children, may one day find yourselves attending mass at St. Albert’s. Perhaps for a wedding, a baptism, or weekly mass.
You may appreciate how difficult a task we are facing. Reflect back to when you were building this parish. Remember how difficult it was. It would have been a blessing to receive some “outside” help. You have the opportunity now to make a real contribution to help out your neighbours—to really demonstrate your faith.
Building St. Albert’s will reduce the crowding here. With a real church in place—not just school gymnasiums—we will draw some of the crowds away from here. Supporting the building of St. Albert’s is like buying more room here without any of the hassles of construction!
With the income tax rates dropping in this province you will also receive a generous tax credit for support you give—this year. This benefit will be reduced in 2001.
We are grateful for all support. If every family in this parish were to provide us with a one-time donation of $1,000 we would be in great shape! Any amount, of course, would be warmly received. Regular contributions through the use of St. Albert’s envelopes (including monthly Building Fund envelopes) would be fantastic. We will gladly provide them and you can drop them into the collection basket here. A pledge to support us over the next six months would be ideal! It is most useful for planning purposes.
On behalf of Father Kevin and the St. Albert’s Building Fund Committee we thank you for your support. Contact any one of us, anytime, with questions or comments.
Chris Post 257-0819 , Douglas Carsted 257-0225, Don Chomyn 257-1681
Alan Finstad 279-8228, Tony Klein 720 7977, Dave Marshall 257-5731
Kelly Ryberg 236-4253, Lil Szentmiklossy 257-2565
I will support the building of St. Albert the Great Church with a six-month pledge of $__________ per month.
I will make a one-time contribution toward building St. Albert the Great Church. I enclose a gift of $ __________.
Kindly return this form and any donations by mail at the address shown on the front page or through the collection basket at this parish before December 31, 2000. A plain envelope marked “St. Albert the Great Building Fund” dropped in the collection at this parish will be forwarded to us. Please make cheques payable to St. Albert the Great. Post-dated cheques are welcome. Thank-you for your assistance.
Your name: ____________________________________________________________________
Your address: __________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________