PORTLAND---It is impossible to quantify the effect the Catholic Appeal has had on the lives of thousands and thousands of Maine people, Catholic and non-Catholic, through the years. The closest you can get is to listen to the ways in which the generosity of donors and a call to help others continue to change the lives of people the givers will never meet. 

At its most basic level, Appeal funds help families put food on the table, enable children to receive an education, provide comfort and support for those in recovery and those in hospital beds, offer companionship to seniors, and extend a hand to individuals suffering from mental illness or homelessness.

The theme of the 2023 Catholic Appeal in Maine is “Living the Eucharist,” an appropriate choice during the National Eucharistic Revival. Through the Eucharist, we are united with Christ and are meant to grow more and more like him. That includes helping us to grow in charity towards others. We are not only called to celebrate, receive, and adore the Eucharist but, also, to live it.

“One way that Catholics in Maine can help their faith come alive is by contributing to the Appeal. We take time to pause and reflect on the many blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us and are mindful of the many needs which call for a gracious and generous response,” said Bishop Robert Deeley. “Your gift helps in so many ways and offers the opportunity to join hands with thousands of other Catholics in Maine whose generosity brings the saving, healing, and joyful message of Jesus to children, women, and men in our state.”

Appeal-funded programs and offices range in size, in scope, and in recipient, but each brings those they assist to a better place.

Catholic Charities Maine (CCM) is the social service arm of the Catholic Church in Maine, and Appeal funds help the organization deliver community-based social services throughout the state to over 50,000 people each year, including thousands of residents in Aroostook, Washington, and Penobscot counties who are served by 28 food pantries. The Farm for ME program offers fresh vegetables to increase access to healthier food options.

“We’re going into some of the most challenging times I think we’ve ever gone into,” said Dixie Shaw, director of Hunger & Relief Services for CCM. “There have been so many people who have written letters and said what it meant to have this extra help. It costs a lot of money to give away free food.”

The Appeal is the primary source of funding for Parish Social Ministry (PSM), a ministry that provides parishes with assistance and guidance in developing programs that respond to specific needs and serve the wider community. PSM initiatives range from weatherization workshops to senior programs and ministries for those with special needs.

“What we try to do is to engage more parishioners in social outreach in their community, because when you serve others, that’s when you deepen your faith,” said Bill Wood, one of four outreach coordinators with PSM. “When you give to the Appeal, you’re helping to create and sustain a network where people can come together and, as Catholics, share their passion and show their love to the community.”

Relief & Hope Services is a program that provides emergency assistance to people around the state. Volunteers try to connect people with needed services or in some cases provide them with small amounts of money or gift cards.

“This program is a place where you can turn if you feel you have no hope and you’re down and out,” said Steve Letourneau, CEO of Catholic Charities Maine. “Perhaps more importantly, it tries to provide people with a path forward.”

A path forward while remaining in their homes is the impact volunteers of the SEARCH program (Seek Elderly Alone, Renew Courage & Hope) have on seniors as they help with household tasks, provide transportation, and meet other crucial needs.

“I think one thing that encouraged me was my first client,” said Joe, who has volunteered for several seniors. “Even when he got to the point where he was in a hospital bed all the time and could barely speak, right from the first day I met him, he never let me walk out the door without saying thank you.”

The Appeal supports the Education Services for Blind and Visually Impaired Children program that serves 300 students from Aroostook County to York County, helping to ensure they can continue to access the world around them and flourish. It also supports programs offering help to those struggling with mental illness, opioid addiction, or related issues, and provides crucial funding for two child development centers offering affordable care in Portland and Biddeford.

“It’s life changing. It really is. I just can’t stress enough that they really did save me,” said Kaylee, whose daughters attend St. Louis Child Development Center in Biddeford. “They started coming here, and it was wonderful.”

“I like to say that joy is the default emotion of preschool children, and so, we want to make sure that we continue to support and make that possible,” said Bill Hager, the center’s director. “So, even though the families are feeling stress, and the staff is feeling stress, the challenge for us is to put that stress aside to give the children as natural and as joyful an experience as possible when they’re here, and to give credit to the staff who work here, I think they’ve done a really fine job of being able to do that.”

The Catholic Appeal supports Maine’s Catholic elementary, middle, and high schools by paying for teachers' pensions, funding the Office of Catholic Schools, and providing grants to parishes with schools.

“You can really see the spiritual growth they get in Catholic school and how it plays out in life,” said Connor Smith, a parent at St. John’s Catholic School in Brunswick. “If we’re not looking to grow our faith in these schools, how else are we going to grow it with the younger generation? There’s no better way to support the faith than through these children.”

Thanks to the Appeal, campus ministry is flourishing at colleges and universities across Maine, including Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, the University of Maine in Orono and Farmington, and UNE, providing welcoming environments for college students to continue to grow in their faith and keeping that faith alive and vibrant on campuses.

"It’s really helped me to see the world differently. And I’ve really dived into my faith more," said Maggie Blake of Colby College in Waterville. “College is all happening, but this is what really matters.”

“Our students encounter Jesus and are changed by their relationship with him. They become the type of people who evangelize with their whole lives,” said Fr. Kyle Doustou, director of campus ministry for the Diocese of Portland. “It’s an investment in the future of the diocese.” 

The Appeal allows priests and lay chaplains to be present at Maine’s hospitals, including Maine Medical Center, Central Maine Medical Center, MaineGeneral Health, Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, Southern Maine Health Care, and more. They offer patients comfort and encouragement, praying with them, and bringing them the Eucharist.

“Bringing some calm and some comfort and God’s love and mercy to those people who are in a very vulnerable place is something that I enjoy,” said Fr. Kevin Upham, a hospital chaplain at Maine Medical Center in Portland. “It does lift people up so that they feel better, whereas if they are alone, it can wear on a person. The physical, the mental, and the spiritual are all connected.”

Serving over 125 women across Maine, CourageLIVES, Maine’s first residential treatment program for survivors of sex trafficking as well as a safe house for women 18 years and older, is supported by the Appeal. The program provides food, clothing, shelter, and counseling for residents, and includes an outreach program for women who live elsewhere.

“Our CourageLIVES program has become well known to women who seek us for help. Our outreach program has grown tremendously. We now serve women and families in many counties such as Penobscot, Cumberland, Aroostook, York, and Franklin. Our staff helps others who are either not able to come to our program or need ongoing support to continue their recovery,” said Sister Terry Gauvin, provincial superior of the American Province of the Good Shepherd Sisters who oversee the program, which is a division of Saint André Home.

The Office of Hispanic Ministry provides pastoral care and faith formation to Maine’s growing Latino community, helping members become fully engaged in the life of the Church, services that continued through the pandemic. Weekly Masses in Spanish are held at seven Maine churches, in person and livestreamed.

“The Hispanic community in Maine is very spread out, so the reach out is important in trying to bring the community together and serve them. Without the Catholic Appeal, this ministry would not exist,” said Fr. Michael Sevigny, OFM Cap., the director of the Office of Hispanic Ministry in the Diocese of Portland. “It’s a gift of faith and community to be able to celebrate God together.”

“Going to families and being with them and spending time with them, that is when they open themselves up to the Church and to faith,” said José Pérez, who serves in Hispanic Ministry. “You can see the joy when we visit.”
“People work very hard, constantly, so when they are with us, it’s a time for them to pause and to be with God,” Sister Mirian Maradiaga, RSR, who also serves in Hispanic Ministry.

The Office of Lifelong Faith Formation provides exciting opportunities and resources to priests, catechetical leaders, pastoral life coordinators, youth ministers, and other parish staff and volunteers involved in the faith formation of children, teenagers, and adults.

“Faith formation is something that happens in every single parish. In part because we celebrate sacraments. Sacraments are something that touches every person’s life. So, part of what the office does is help local parishes do that well,” said Lori Dahlhoff, the director of the office. “Our mission is to help the faithful in Maine to fully participate in the life and mission of the faith.”

The Appeal supports the Christian Life Center in Frenchville, which provides spiritual enrichment through retreats, programs, and events, as well as eucharistic adoration and Mass.

"The center provides hope during a time when there is too much turmoil in the world," said Gale Rioux.

“This place has been a powerhouse for not only me but for everybody in the [St. John River] Valley. It feeds us," said Linda Raymond.

The list goes on and on. The Appeal supports priests who are on medical leave, ensuring their salaries, health insurance, and pensions continue while they are not serving so the cost isn’t carried by a parish; members of the deaf community through interpreted Masses; Harvest, the magazine of the Diocese of Portland that shares inspiring stories of faith; prison ministry, which provides care and counsel to Maine prison inmates and their families, helping them discover God’s merciful presence; and the tribunal, which helps individuals resume full participation in the sacramental life of the Church and to deepen their union with God by removing, when possible, impediments that may exist.

“In sum, the Appeal brings the hope of the Gospel to life,” said Bishop Deeley. “The work made possible by the Catholic Appeal, particularly at this time, has been nothing short of extraordinary and provided life-altering support to people in their hour of need. The number of people in our Church who met this moment of uncertainty and struggle with generosity and courage offered hope to many people in so many ways. All of this support was only possible because of you and your contributions.”

To donate or to learn more about these and additional programs benefitting from the Appeal in Maine, visit the special Appeal section website at www.portlanddiocese.org/giving.