Diocese helps with hurricane relief

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In the wake of recent natural disasters, the Jefferson City diocese contributed $10,000 to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Bishop W. Shawn McKnight authorized a payment of $5,000 of diocesan funds in response to the recent hurricanes in the Southeast. The USCCB will share this contribution with Catholic Charities USA.

The other $5,000 came from a special emergency fund of the Mission Office and will be shared with Catholic Relief Services for their work with the tsunami victims in Indonesia.

Bishop McKnight did this in lieu of holding another special collection in the parishes. In his vision of a tithing diocese, the diocese will respond to emergencies and traditional second collections from money that parishes tithe to the diocese, doing away with the need for most second collections.

Individual parishioners are still encouraged to contribute if they wish. To help with disaster relief in the United States, they can donate online to Catholic Charities USA atcatholiccharities.org.

For a specific response to the area hardest hit by Hurricane Michael, donors can give directly to the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee at ptdiocese.org/hurricanemichael.

Parishioners can also go directly to Catholic Relief Services to offer assistance for the recovery from the tsunami that killed 2,000 Indonesians. The web address is crs.org.ways-to-give.

If donors wish, they can send checks to the diocese at P.O. Box 104900, Jefferson City, MO 65110-4900.

The memo line should indicate “Disaster Relief.” If the gift is to be designated, please add either “-CCUSA” or “-CRS.” The entire amount will be forwarded to the appropriate agency.

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