The 91st Annual Appeal for Catholic Charities has exceeded its goal. As of Tuesday, the final day of the Appeal, just over $11.15 million had been received. Catholic Charities diocesan director Sister Mary McCarrick says exceeding the goal by $200,000 is significant. McCarrick says 23 percent of the money comes from 3 percent of the people.
"We really rely heavily on the larger donors, the bigger gifts, because the pool of Catholics is shrinking. Every year, 6,000 Catholics are buried. And maybe about 2,000 Catholics are baptized. So we're working, as are all the mainline religions, against a shrinking population," McCarrick said.
Catholic Charities offers 70 programs and services across the eight counties of western New York. Last year alone, Catholic Charities helped 142,000 people of all faiths.