Have you ever wondered why the children of our parish drop their coins in the big glass jar on the altar during the collection at Sunday Mass? They are sponsoring three children from the Chalice sponsorship program. Between 2017 and 2018 our three sponsored children were part of over 50,000 other children sponsored through Chalice. A number of our fellow parishioners have now chosen to sponsor a child as well.
Chalice is a registered Catholic charity that supports child development, families and communities in 15 developing countries. Its core program is child sponsorship, which provides children with proper care and access to education.
According to this years Maclean’s Magazine, Chalice is rated as Canada’s best charity for international work with a 97.5% out of 100% rating. Chalice commits 90 percent of its spending in support of programs. Father Patrick Cosgrove is the President of Chalice and its headquarters is in Bedford, NS.
Walter Kotowich is the representative for Chalice at St. Charles Parish. Our parish has been supporting the Chalice Christmas catalog for the past ten years. Walter also encourages and supports other parishes as they establish Chalice programs.
Walter tells us, “Two years ago, I talked with the pastor at St. Gianna’s church about Chalice. Keep in mind, St Gianna’s is a new parish with major capital expenditures. I would not be surprised if they said no. Nevertheless, the parishioners have enthusiastically embraced the needs of the poor in spite of their personal needs. Today they sponsor 12 children from Chalice! They proudly display poster size photos of all these children on the walls of their church! There are so many good people in our Catholic churches. All that's needed is someone to tell them about Chalice.”