Parishioners from St. Mark Church in Huntersville bring supplies of diapers, non-perishable food, and water to the Statesville airport to be transported by plane and car to Waynesville in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene last September. In the six months since, Sister Parishes from across the diocese have stepped in to help those impacted by the storm. (File photos)CHARLOTTE — Six months after it was launched by Bishop Michael Martin, the Diocese of Charlotte’s Sister Parish Program is seeing results.
More than 30 “sister” parishes raised money last winter to provide support to 20 churches in the western half of the diocese that were hit worst by Tropical Storm Helene. These funds have been critical in supporting churches’ specific operational needs, whereas donations to Catholic Charities’ larger Helene Relief Fund are being spent more broadly to help affected individuals and communities.
Second collections conducted in November and December raised a total of $466,954 to help affected parishes recoup lost offertory funds and use as needed – such as aiding parishioners in need, funding ministries, or paying the bills. A total of $328,089 has already been distributed, with another $138,865 to go.
Payments will continue each month until all funds are dispersed, said Matt Ferrante, the diocese’s chief financial officer.
Ferrante also noted that eight parishes did not need the additional financial support in February, since their weekly offertories had rebounded to pre-Helene levels.
“This increase is a positive sign of the financial health and resilience of those communities,” he said.
The Sister Parish Program has stretched beyond offertory support to affected parishes in places like Sylva and Waynesville, with assistance including prayers and special Masses to volunteers trucking in material help and offering labor to those affected by the storm. New relationships between parishes, forged through trauma, continue as parishes remain engaged with on-the-ground and spiritual support.
Rayanne Herrera, office manager for St. Mary, Mother of God Parish in Sylva, said all the extra help has been a godsend for people in need.
“It’s difficult when you live paycheck to paycheck, and then you are hit with a lot of repairs, and you’re in the middle of winter when seasonal work is already low,” Herrera said.
Sylva’s sister parishes, St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte and St. Therese in Mooresville, have eased the burden: delivering Thanksgiving food baskets, gas cards and gift certificates, blankets, and soon-to-arrive Easter food baskets.
Requests for help continue to reach the small parish community, though.
The parish’s food pantry, which was small before Helene, served over 500 people the week following the storm and now stays busy supplying local families with food, household products and hygiene needs.
“We just try to fill the gaps within the community,” Herrera said.
Father Paul McNulty, pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Waynesville and Immaculate Conception Mission in Canton, said the Sister Parish Program is providing both material and spiritual help for the people he serves. Waynesville was paired up with St. Mark in Huntersville and St. Joseph in Kannapolis. The parishes contributed everything from financial support to supplies trucked in immediately after the storm. Knights of Columbus from Kannapolis sent over a shipment of warm jackets for families who lost everything and needed warm clothes in the winter.
“Those distributions over the last several months have been so helpful in making up for any shortfalls we had in offertory, and they’ve helped us to be able to extend help to our parishioners who were affected by the storm,” he said.
— Christina Lee Knauss
Sister Parish Program
BENEFICIARIES
Parishes have received financial support based on their offertory shortfall over the past 6 months. Funds distributed so far total:
St. Barnabas, Arden: $60,402
St. Eugene, Asheville: $33,435
St. Joan of Arc, Candler: $31,820
St. John the Evangelist, Waynesville: $24,340
St. Lawrence Basilica, Asheville: $23,438
St. Elizabeth & Church of the Epiphany, Boone: $19,169
St. Margaret Mary, Swannanoa: $18,134
St. Lucien, Spruce Pine: $18,034
St. Joseph, Bryson City: $16,340
St. Mary, Mother of God, Sylva: $15,171
Sacred Heart Mission, Burnsville: $15,180
St. Edmund Campion, (Anglican Catholic) Hendersonville: $10,000
St. Francis of Assisi, Jefferson: $8,824
St. Bernadette, Linville: $8,604
St. Margaret of Scotland, Maggie Valley: $7,567
Immaculate Conception, Hendersonville: $7,140
St. Andrew the Apostle, Mars Hill: $4,923
St. Frances of Rome Mission, Sparta: $2,407
Immaculate Conception Mission, Canton $2,081
Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission, Cherokee: $1,081
TOTAL: $328,089
DONORS
Parishes that volunteered to contribute the following through second collections over the past 6 months. All of these funds are being dispersed:
Christ the King Mission, Shelby: $1,753
Holy Cross, Kernersville: $4,060
Holy Family, Clemmons $16,267
Immaculate Heart of Mary, High Point: $400
Immaculate Heart of Mary Mission, Hayesville: $1,394
Our Lady of Lourdes, Monroe: $4,090
Our Lady of Mercy, Winston-Salem: $2,000
Our Lady of the Annunciation, Albemarle: $2,271
Queen of the Apostles, Belmont: $21,979
Sacred Heart, Salisbury: $8,506
St. Aloysius, Hickory: $9,979
St. Ann, Charlotte: $58,430
St. Dorothy, Lincolnton: $5,011
St. Gabriel, Charlotte: $14,045
St. James, Concord: $12,347
St. John Neumann, Charlotte: $4,078
St. Joseph, Asheboro: $7,435
St. Joseph, Newton: $5,752
St. Joseph, Kannapolis: $4,213
St. Leo, Winston-Salem: $38,161
St. Mark, Huntersville: $57,783
St. Mary’s, Greensboro: $11,672
St. Mary, Help of Christians, Shelby: $3,549
St. Matthew, Charlotte: $106,832
St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte: $7,178
St. Paul the Apostle, Greensboro: $10,211
St. Peter, Charlotte: $19,560
St. Philip the Apostle, Statesville: $4,477
St. Thérèse, Mooresville: $11,288
St. Thomas Aquinas, Charlotte: $11,599
St. William, Murphy: $634
TOTAL: $466,955
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After the storm, Swannanoa parish brings ‘esperanza’
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Donors help Catholic Charities ‘rebuild lives’
Storm stories: The region begins to recover
