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…the greatest of these is CHARITY

For Hispanics, giving is an act of faith

Remember the tsunami and hurricane relief concert telethons, with phones manned by celebrities?

Such modern strategies make it easy – some might say glamorous − to give to those less fortunate, and millions of Americans (and thousands of Arizonans)  scribbled out checks or read off credit card numbers in the name of giving.

However, the millions of dollars that went from Arizonans’ bank accounts to national disasters relief left traditional Catholic charities to fend for and comfort the state’s poor.

According to the Grand Canyon Chapter of the American Red Cross, Arizonans’ donations as of December to the local chapter and to the national organization is $4.5 million toward tsunami aid, and $21 million for Katrina. 

Catholic leaders say true charity dwells within the actions of helping.

For the average individual donors, “writing a check has very little long-term impact,” says Doug Bogart, deacon at St. Thomas the Apostle in Phoenix. “Going somewhere and smelling the smells, feeling the dirt on your fingers has a much longer effect.”

Just ask Latino teenagers who are involved in giving projects through their churches and schools as they take away lasting impressions.

Last year Aida Soto, 15, and Gabriel Servin, 16, traveled with a small group to Nogales, Sonora, Mexico to build a home and provide clothing for the poor.

“From the moment I went there I realized they didn’t have much,” the sophomore at Veritas Preparatory Academy in Phoenix says of the shock of seeing families living in cardboard shelters. “We always want more every day.”

Now she says she looks at what she really needs, instead of what she wants.

“Sometimes we even cried, the things we saw there,” she adds. “We come home and we have everything we need. And they have simple things.”

“The people that we helped, no matter what we did, they’d always smile,” Servin, a junior at St. Mary’s High School says, adding that giving has now become a habit.

“You get to experience a different type of lifestyle. We stayed in a little orphanage and we had to be careful of using water. I learned how to lay bricks and how to cook. You get to put your faith into action.”

Participating in such projects “can have a major impact … and just cause them to change the direction of their lives,” Bogart says. “It transfers that passion into other activities as well.”

   
THE VIRTUES OF CHARITY

The holidays, more than any other time of year, boosts giving to a frantic level. We buy presents for family and friends or throw in for office parties. We purchase the latest lighting and trim décor so our homes reflect our wealth and taste. We chase the latest toys and games to delight los niños.

Yet the gulf between those who have and those who don’t seems to widen with the proliferation of gifts under the tree.

Catholics, who are bound by church doctrine to help the poor, gear up during the holiday season to aid the needy. Latinos are a large part of that charitable movement and they give in ways that reflect who they are culturally.

In the Diocese of Phoenix alone there are 89 parishes, according to Jose Robles, director of Hispanic affairs for the diocese. Of those parishes, 48 show a major Hispanic presence. Each parish has its own strategy for helping the poor; he says; there is no coordinated effort throughout the diocese. This approach, in a way, makes the effort more personal.

Among the 73 parishes in the Diocese of Tucson, roughly 55 percent are predominantly Hispanic, says the Rev. Raúl Trevizo, vicar general for Hispanic Affairs. First- and second-generation Latinos prefer to do their giving anonymously, he adds.

“It’s like going back to the whole notion that you don’t make public your giving,” he says.

INFORMAL-STYLE CHARITY

Giving on a personal level is a high priority among Latino donors, according to Cultures of Caring: Philanthropy in Diverse American Communities, a 1999 report issued by the Council on Foundations, a worldwide organization of grant-making foundations and giving programs.

According to the report, Hispanic cultural values play a large part in the decision of where to give time and money. These ideals include a sense of duty, the importance of one’s word, the basic worth of each person, and giving back to community, family, and trust.

In short, the tradition of helping is culturally ingrained, shaping contemporary Latinos’ very personal and highly informal way of giving. In return, Latino donors enjoy the knowledge that his or her good deeds make up for any missed opportunities in the past, plus the added bonus of making the world better for all.

At St. John the Evangelist Church in Tucson, where Trevizo is the pastor, an emphasis on each person’s relationship with Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas has worked well when it comes to contributions.

“(The bishop) didn’t want to appear to have his hands on the money, but with the Latinos, we’ve only been able to have success when we drive home the idea that you have a personal relationship with the bishop,” Trevizo says. “We’ve had to develop that personalistic approach.”

For many Latinos, the simpler ways to give – sometimes face to face – seem to be the most satisfying.

“What we have done in the past, at the parish level, is the parish will adopt families and provide them with food boxes and gifts,” Robles says. “Here at the diocese, we’ve done similar things.”

For example, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Scottsdale begins collecting basics such as clothing, items for the home, and gift certificates in mid-November. Robles adds, “We’ll accept just about anything that can be used during the holiday season.”

“They have this huge gift drive. Parishioners will provide gifts for infants, children, teens and adults. They very nicely gift-wrap everything and in the social hall, they’ll drop these gifts off. They call me and I have to determine (who are) the most needy Hispanics in the diocese. I’ve taken truckloads of gifts to Ashfork, Queen Creek, Cashion and St. Martin de Porres in south Phoenix. These are the poorest of the poor.”

CREATING MEMORIES

Parishioners at St. Catherine of Sienna in south Phoenix are trying out a new approach to helping the needy. Stockings had been “stuffed” by volunteers, who bought what they could afford for families in need. The goal was to have hundreds of stockings filled with telephone,
grocery and gas cards, certificates for entertainment centers, movie rental cards and at least one disposable camera in each.

“These Christmas stockings are filled with things that would help families make memories this year,” says Sara Walter, information and referral worker with Catholic Social Services and a St. Catherine’s parishioner. “It allows families to spend time together. A lot of families who can hardly make their bills don’t have the luxury of spending time with their families.”

Congregation members brought canned goods and food to St. Mary Margaret’s Thanksgiving Mass in Bullhead City. In this parish, tact is a high priority in the giving process, says the Rev. Peter Dobrowski. He gets a list of families from the church’s Hispanic minister, who then delivers food boxes and gifts.

“The thing about the list is these are people who might not come forward otherwise,” Dobrowski explains. “The family might feel that they are in debt to these people. With Hispanic ministry actually bringing the basket, it preserves a bit of their pride.”

Dobrowski adds his parish strongly supports the local St. Vincent de Paul, both in Bullhead City and in nearby Lake Havasu.

“I think we have a very high level of volunteerism here,” Dobrowski says. “In Lake Havasu they have a soup kitchen. In Bullhead City, it’s a two-story store plus a warehouse. They use that to raise money. It’s a very big operation requiring many people.”

Dorothy Contreras, parish secretary at St. Martin de Porres Church in south Phoenix, has been involved in organizing the Giving Tree program. She also assists with the religious education program, in which young children, some from very poor families, learn the catechism.

Contreras will have to gather enough donations to completely clothe 50 children.

“The children who are coming here, that’s the only families we give to,” she explains. “They’re from all over – from the northwest to the northeast to here in the south Phoenix area.”

Ironically, St. Martin de Porres is in need itself. An annual fiesta was held in early November to build a fund for repairs.

“(The money) goes into our church to keep our church going,” she says. “Right now, we’re in real need of a roof – (the cost is) $42,000. It’s leaking.”

The festival raised about $9,500. Still, she’s optimistic.

 "We’re growing. There are new homes in the area, so we’re getting new parishioners.”

The poor also benefit from those who have recently arrived from other countries, who speak only Spanish.

Brother Clem Leavy of St. Matthew’s parish, 20th Street and Van Buren in Phoenix, says many of the parishioners who give time to help the needy are recent immigrants, mostly from Mexico. Leavy arranges for groups of these volunteers to serve at Andre House, 1002 W. Polk. 

“We’ll send people down on a given afternoon,” Leavy says. “They do the preparation and the serving for the meals.”

Hands-on charitable acts often carry over into other aspects of the giver’s lives. For example, now that students Aida Soto and Gabriel Servin have given time to building shelters for the poor in Mexico, they both are thinking of careers in architecture. They’ve shared their experiences with others at school. And they are returning to Nogales with others to help more.

“It’ll be a lot bigger this year,” Soto says. “Last time there was only about four of us, but I think this year there’s going to be a lot more.”