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Special collections taken this year in the parishes of the Archdiocese of New York after the recent earthquake in Haiti and the Covid-19 outbreak in India netted a total of $248,009 to assist those in need in the two countries, said Msgr. Joseph P. LaMorte, vicar general and moderator of the curia in the archdiocese.
Funds collected for India, after the Covid-19 outbreak in the first half of 2021, totaled $127,527, with $88,000 disbursed, according to a report to Cardinal Dolan from the archdiocesan Finance Office last week.
In Haiti, at least 2,200 were killed and more than 12,000 were injured in the Aug. 14 quake. A total of $120,482 has been collected, with $32,000 disbursed so far.
Msgr. LaMorte told CNY that Cardinal Dolan wrote to priests of the archdiocese from India and Sri Lanka and Haiti to assist after the problems struck their home country. Priests were asked to identify areas of need in their home dioceses, institutions and families.
Of the remaining funds, Msgr. LaMorte said that $50,000 was being distributed to Catholic Relief Services for disbursal in Haiti and $25,000 will go to Catholic Relief Services for disbursal in India.
Some funds will also be placed in a Charity Emergency Fund, which the archdiocese has set up to provide initial funding when disasters strike around the globe.
“We realize that each year somewhere in the world there is a natural disaster—a flood, hurricane or tornado, or in the case of India with Covid,” Msgr. LaMorte said. “These things are expected.”
Parishes generally respond by holding a special collection or by setting up a box to receive voluntary contributions. “It’s living the Gospel. It also helps us to be grateful for what we’ve been given,” Msgr. LaMorte said.
