Many of you are aware that we irrigate our campus from the lake which borders 111th Avenue North. The lake is rehydrated by ex
cess rainfall which collects in the lake from runoff. When we encounter a drought, which has happened more than a few times in the past several years, there is a backup pump which pulls water from our well to rehydrate the lake. So basically, we do not recognize any expense for the irrigation of our campus with the exception of electricity to power the sprinkler system and submersible pump. Can you imagine the cost to irrigate our 15 acre campus if we were using County water? As a result of the recent (excessive) rainfall, our lake is completely full, so much so that the swale in front of the lake is holding overflow from our lake. Considering that we are only now entering the rainy season, we look to be in good shape moving forward.
Have you noticed that one of the ugliest eye sores surrounding our campus has been rehabilitated? The tennis courts immediately to the East of the church have received a much needed resurfacing and repainting. These courts were in such disrepair that without the nets, you would not know that they were actually tennis courts. Thank you to Collier County for finally cleaning up this mess. With that said, it looks as though our parishioners will now have a very nice spot to play a few sets if you like. Unfortunately, they did not address the drainage issues which will continue to plague the courts after very heavy rainfall. Maybe this will be next in the County plans.
Did you know that the nature of the landscaping in the Memorial Garden was planned for a particular reason? We wanted to plant as many flowering trees, shrubs and plants as possible for one specific purpose. The last thing we want to do is clutter our beautiful Memorial Garden with plastic flowers and large bouquets that look out of place. The idea is that instead of placing an arrangement of flowers on a particular grave, you would pick one of the many varieties of flowering plants and place this on the grave. I would kindly ask that you comply with this request to further beautify our garden. The placement of small American flags is also perfectly appropriate.
We just received 80+ more new granite markers for the Memorial Garden. These markers will be installed in selected sections as part of our master plan to replace ALL of the old markers. If you would like the old marker of your loved one, please contact Marcos Burgoa at 248.6588 to arrange a convenient time to pick up.
I published the paragraph below last year and thought I would do so again this year with updated statistics. Oddly, the percentage of participating households has remained steady although we exceeded our CFA goal last year. This could be due to the fact that those participating households increased their annual pledge. We look to be in very good shape this year thus far as indicated in the CFA summary which can be found on the opposite page. Remember that any excess funds received through the CFA will be returned to the parish free of assessment. This made a big difference last year and can certainly do so again this year. Think about it this way – Every CFA dollar received in excess of our goal will technically generate an additional 26% of revenue as it will not be subject to assessment.
Each week the Diocese of Venice sends me an updated spreadsheet of contributions made to the Catholic Faith Appeal (CFA.) Included in this report are statistics regarding the total number of registered families and those that have made a contribution the CFA. We currently have 2,600 registered families at St. John the Evangelist. A registered family is defined as one that has contributed at least $1 in the past twelve months. Obviously our parish membership is much greater than the 2,600 listed, however, many choose not to register, others do not contribute and many more are very seasonal and contribute cash while here, making them virtually “invisible” as far as record keeping goes. What I found truly amazing is that only 29.99% of these registered families have contributed to the CFA. That amounts to roughly 780 of our 2,600 families. Currently, we are $104,000 short of reaching our goal for the 2013 appeal. If we had participation from the 1,820 families that have not yet made a contribution or pledge, we would have a great shot at exceeding our goal this year and on into the future. Our shortfall divided by the number of families not contributing amounts to approximately $57.00 per family. If these 1,820 families were able to make an annual pledge of $60 ($5 per week at 12 months) to the CFA, we would be in great shape Remember that the CFA is the single most important component of our annual operating budget. For those who have made a pledge or contribution the CFA, thank you for your generosity. For those who have not, please consider doing so as there is certainly power in numbers. Although $5.00 per month doesn’t sound like a lot, when there is a factor of 1,000 or more involved, the growth is exponential. Thank you in advance for your consideration.
In His work together,
Scott Schlossberg, MBA
General Manager