Photo Courtesy Catholic Foundation of North Georgia

ATLANTA–As news about COVID-19 changes daily, many Catholic organizations are worried about how to meet the needs of the parishioners, staff, students and community members who depend on them.

To support the church in this time of crisis, the national organization of #iGiveCatholic decided to turn on the #iGiveCatholic giving platform. The website will be open to collect donations for many of the parishes, Catholic schools and nonprofits in the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

“The new site, #iGiveCatholic Together, signifies our coming together as Catholics to get resources to our parishes, schools, and nonprofit ministries so that they can respond to the crisis as quickly and as efficiently as possible,” said Julie Kenny, national program director for #iGiveCatholic.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, many parishes are missing their weekly donations. This site will provide them with an additional online giving option and a way to communicate their needs to the greater community. In addition, many schools and other Catholic nonprofits have had to cancel or postpone their fundraising events or are responding to the crisis and need additional funding.

Donors can make a gift at www.together.igivecatholic.org to several organizations at the same time for as little as $10.

Ignatius House Jesuit Retreat Center is one of the organizations that is participating in #iGiveCatholic Together. The center outlined several needs on its page, including how a gift of $77 dollars enables them to underwrite one week of video services to create online spiritual programs.

“Our mission as a retreat house is to help one another pause daily, give attention to our relationship with God, and learn to find God in all things–sorrow, challenges, triumphs, and joy,” noted Tara La Bouff, Ignatius House director of development and communication. “Perhaps the tools of St. Ignatius have never been more needed than now.”

“Ignatius House is rapidly creating more live online and on-demand offerings,” La Bouff added. “We expect the pandemic will limit how we are able to gather for some time. Fundraising during #iGiveCatholic Together helps us adapt both programs and delivery as the pandemic waxes or wanes.”

“We are pleased to support our archdiocese with this program,” said Catholic Foundation President Nancy Coveny. “The needs are great around the archdiocese, and this online giving platform gives our Catholic organizations another option for collecting much-needed funds to continue to serve.”

This platform will also be available for organizations to collect donations as part of #GivingTuesdayNow on May 5.  #GivingTuesday is a global day of giving as a response to the unprecedented need caused by the new coronavirus.

For information on participating, please contact the Catholic Foundation of North Georgia at info@cfnga.org or call 404-497-9440.