Giving
Meet Our Donors
On behalf of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, we would like to thank all of our current donors for their generosity and support. Here are some of their stories.
Legacy Giving: Sharing a Heritage of Faith
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Donor Story – Claude and Diane
Both wanted to support the organizations dearest to them while still being able to provide for immediate needs. Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRUTs) turned out to be the most financially viable option for the couple.
After retiring, Claude and Diane reviewed their finances and retirement plans with a qualified financial advisor. Both wanted to support the organizations dearest to them while still being able to provide for immediate needs. Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRUTs) turned out to be the most financially viable option for the couple. The CRUT greatly reduced the taxes they would have paid for cashing in stocks and allowed them to diversify their assets. Claude established a CRUT to support scholarships for students attending Catholic schools within the Arlington Diocese, while the Diane supports her alma mater and a private school along with several other charities.
"The Catholic Schools of the Arlington Diocese provide an environment that helps offset the materialism and negative images that kids are exposed to every day. These schools help children understand that there are higher standards of morality than they often see around them, and they provide a superior education. I am happy to support that."
Bob Chiralo on Stewardship:"It wasn't a question of doing it, but of how much we would allocate."
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Monica Chiralo: Her Faith Journey: "To be Catholic to me means to be a Christian, it means to be home."
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Robert Hatter on Giving Back: "We decided to do this in her memory."Click here to view.
"Honoring my Mother's Legacy"
Bob's mother Mary provided him the faith that he now gives to future generations.
Bob Hatter's mother, Mary Cook Hatter, was a woman of strong faith. She attended daily Mass, participated in church activities and she taught her son Bob that being Catholic also meant returning one's blessings with increase to God. Her faith permeated her life and Bob's life throughout each one of their family milestones.
"We feel this gift will return some of what God has given and continues to give to us
each day."
When Mary died at the young age of 50, her faith was already very much instilled in her son Bob and he worked to continue to build upon that Catholic faith she encouraged in him. He and his wife, Martha drew strength from his mother's faith and made it the foundation of their marriage and their family life.
Throughout the years, the Catholic Church has been at the center of each milestone in the Hatters' lives – their wedding day and those of their children, baptisms and confirmations. And just as Bob's mother had done, the couple has passed this heritage of faith on to their three children, eight grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
As active members of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Vienna (Martha sings in the choir and she and Bob volunteer for the fall festival) they have formed a friendship with their pastor Father Metzger. When Father Metzger first approached them about making a bequest to the parish through their will, they immediately thought about establishing their gift as a memorial to Bob's mother, Mary.
"Establishing a gift to our parish through our will was a simple way we could give back to the Church that gives us so very much, all while honoring my mother's legacy," said Bob. "We feel this gift will return some of what God has given and continues to give to us each day."
In honoring his mother's legacy, Bob and Martha's gift will enable their parish to support, foster and instill Mary's faith—their faith, in countless others.
Charles Johnson: Returning Our Blessings: "I'm just borrowing it for a short period of time."
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Vicki Johnson: Learning and Growing: "The most important thing in life is to remember that you can always go to God."
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A Life-Long Teacher Comes to the Rescue
A teacher for over 50 years, Dr. Torpey's gift helped Saint Rita's school at a time of great need.
A teacher for over 50 years, Dr. Torpey's gift helped Saint Rita's school at a time of great need.
Being a teacher for over 50 years, Dr. Dorothy Torpey spent a lifetime giving back. Passionate for her students and her faith, gifts from her estate reflected a lifetime of service and a love for the Church and her parish in particular, St. Rita.
Her gift could not have come at a better time.
In 2005, faced with rising renovation expenditures and a dire need for new heating and electrical systems in the parish school, Father Denis Donahue, pastor of Saint Rita's parish in Alexandria, once again contemplated asking Bishop Loverde for another loan.
Then, that November, Father Donahue received a call to discuss an estate that named St. Rita as a beneficiary. Father was not surprised to receive a call like this; he had been blessed with bequest gifts in the past and was always extremely grateful. What he was unprepared for was that this particular bequest would be able to meet many if not all of his emergency financial needs.
As always, God provided through Dr. Torpey's gift.
Father Donahue, while joyful about the unexpected gift, he was saddened that he never had the opportunity to thank Dr. Torpey before her death.
"I wish I could have told her personally what a tremendous financial burden was taken off me by her bequest. As a result, I have been able to worry less about money and more about the spiritual well-being of my people. Words cannot express how grateful I am for this blessing. In gratitude to her for her help to me, I pray continually for the repose of her soul and for the souls of her deceased family," said Father Donahue.
Since Dr. Torpey's bequest was not restricted to a particular purpose and given that Dr. Torpey spent her life devoted to education, Saint Rita and Father Donahue honored her legacy by designating it to support St. Rita Catholic School. Father Donahue was able to use her gift according to the needs of the school, including meeting his immediate needs for the school's heating and electrical systems.
Because of her gift, Dr. Torpey's legacy of educating and serving her students will now continue well into the future and build upon the great foundation she established during her life.