LOVE ONE ANOTHER FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN UPDATE

A number of years ago, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee committed to having an archdiocese-wide fundraising campaign named Love One Another (LOA).  As was the case for prior campaigns of this nature (e.g. Faith in Our Future), LOA has been conducted in multiple phases, with St. John XXIII’s campaign beginning in January, 2023.  Being a five-year campaign, we have now reached the half-way mark, and our Finance Council requested that an update be provided to let all of our parishioners know where things currently stand regarding this fundraising effort.

For those who have pledged to participate in this campaign, 40% of the pledge remains with the Archdiocese of Milwaukee to help fund Catholic schooling, priest and other religious formation, Catholic charities, and facility improvements, and the remaining 60% is returned to St. John XXIII via quarterly disbursements.  To date, we have received $652,939 in such disbursements, 67% of the $969,459 pledged.  When committing to participate in LOA, St. John XXIII decided that all of the money received by our parish would be used to reduce our Gather & Grow mortgage debt which is presently just shy of $1.3 million.

Our Gather & Grow mortgage is with the Port Washington State Bank at the very favorable interest rate of 3.3%.  This rate, however, is set to expire this upcoming September and is bound to significantly increase.  Indeed, a new rate in the range of 6.6% is not at all out of the question.  In the meantime, instead of paying down our debt, we have been investing our LOA funds in U.S. Treasury bills at an average rate of approximately 5%.  Accordingly, we have timed our remaining LOA T-bill investments to mature this August in preparation for making a substantial principal payment when refinancing our mortgage effective 9/1/25.

With this information in mind, we are very thankful to have already received two thirds of our expected LOA funds, even though we are only half-way through the campaign.  This will enable us to lower our debt more than expected which, in turn, will further reduce our current monthly mortgage payment of $7,334.  Based on existing LOA fund reserves, we anticipate being able to decrease our mortgage principal by $590,000, from $1.3 million to $710,000.

Given the many benefits we have enjoyed as a result of our Gather & Grow building expansion and renovation, we all the more appreciate the contributions made to both the Gather & Grow and LOA campaigns.  Hopefully this legacy of generous giving will continue, enabling us to further diminish our debt by the conclusion of our LOA campaign in December 2027, and eventually retire it altogether.

Thank-you for your ongoing support, be it financial or otherwise, of all things St. John XXIII!