Saint Jude Purple Envelope Building & Grounds FundSt. Jude is our spiritual home and, like any home, there are unexpected needs that arise which put a financial strain on the household. Please consider donating to our Purple Envelope fund in order for us to keep our spiritual home in good repair.
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Purple Envelope Q & AWhat is all this about Purple Envelopes?
“Purple Envelopes” is the shorthand name for the Parish effort to begin routinely raising money to pay for capital needs and major maintenance. Where did the code name “Purple Envelopes” come from? Parish households without a child currently in the day school typically receive a package of envelopes to use for their commitment offerings which can be conveniently dropped off in the collection basket during mass. There are four green envelopes for each week during the month, and one Purple Envelope for each month designated for Buildings and Grounds Maintenance. So in a sense we are just raising consciousness about existing Purple Envelopes. What do you want me to do? We are asking everyone in the Parish to make “Purple Envelope” contributions on a regular basis. In addition to the contributions you already routinely make and that have been crucial to meet our annual operating expenses, the Parish needs Purple Envelope funds as a resource to meet the needs of our aging campus. Can’t you make this easier than sending out new envelopes? Yes. In fact, we’re not planning big changes with envelope distribution. What we would really like is for each St. Jude Parish household to set up a regular, recurring amount through your bank’s Bill Pay service or through an automatic debit. All you need to do is to indicate on the biller name that it is for "St. Jude Parish - Purple Envelopes”, or have “Purple Envelopes” written in the memo line, and it will get to the right place. So I should use my bank’s Bill Pay service for this? Yes, that would be great. Send in something on a regular basis. Please make it a new part of your routine giving. And if you prefer using the physical envelopes, that’s OK too. Can’t you just wrap this into my annual commitment amount to the Parish? There are some real problems with that. First, like many businesses, the Parish maintains an annual operating budget that follows accounting standards. Under such standards, capital expenses are distinct and separate from operating expenses. Second, while our Buildings and Grounds Committee does a great job in identifying and trying to anticipate needs, many times the needs for a major repair arise suddenly, perhaps on an emergency basis. If we used operating budget funds for such repairs, we could end up with frequent deficits. How much do you want me to give? Please give what you can. We will keep information available on the amounts we anticipate needing for roof replacement and other predictable projects. And we will keep you informed of the spending on projects. If we all give something, and give regularly, we’ll be OK. Can we just have a capital campaign and get this over with? Typically, about every three years over the past twenty five years or so St. Jude has needed to have a capital campaign. We frankly would like to avoid the organizational stresses and giving exhaustion that can accompany such campaigns. We hope that as a Parish we can begin to meet these needs on a routine and sustainable basis, rather than through cyclical crisis response. So, like upkeep of your own home, we frankly do not expect the need for Purple Envelopes here at our collective spiritual home come to an end anytime soon. Can you help? How are we doing so far? At the Annual Gala we had a good launch, raising $50,000 for Purple Envelopes. We are now beginning to see routine monthly commitments come in from Parish households, including some using Bill Pay. As of January 2017, we are off to a good start! 
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Work of the Saint Jude Building & Ground Committee
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