Did you miss me last week? My wife and I were on vacation in a nice warm place; the warm southern sun has a way of reinvigorating you in February, especially if you’re from the frozen north. As I get older, it seems that the winters in Michigan are getting colder and longer and the term “snow bird” carries a lot of positive connotations in my mind. We skipped town just in time as we missed the last snowstorm…and I sincerely hope the snow is done and that it was the “last” snowstorm or as some people are now calling them “snowicaines”, but who knows. 
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From the Office
From the Office
We’ll be doing the update for our computer system to MS Office 7 during the 2nd week of March. We’re excited to be getting up to date with our technology. In addition, Father J.J. is reviewing a few other additions to our system. We are investigating the possibility of installing wireless in the Church and the Davidson Center. This would be an invaluable tool for the ministries based here at St. Anastasia as well as guest speakers and outside ministries that from time to time use our facility. The total cost for this will be $360 and that includes the routers, installation, and testing….we think that’s a pretty good deal. Phase two, our Technology Update Project (I love giving things names like that!), will entail completing the wiring of the Pastoral Center for internet access. The plugs for access were installed when the center was built, but they’ve never been hooked up. That and the wireless in the Church and DC will give us internet access across the entire site. The cost for activating those plugs in the Pastoral Center will be between $300 and $400. Phase three of the project will entail utilizing our current black/white, color, and color laser printers as “network printers”. Right now we have small printers in our individual offices and the cost of print cartridges and on-going maintenance/replacement of these printers is a big expense. Once the network printers are hooked up and running, we’ll retire the individual printers as they become obsolete and need repairs….most of them are 5 to 7 years old and are on their last legs. The cost for setting up the “print network” will be $300 to $400.
From the Office
We received our CSA update from the Archdiocese and I want to let you know where we stand. The target amount assessed by the Archdiocese for St. Anastasia is $237,334.00 – that is the amount that we must pay. Received thus far against that goal is $221,813.86 for a balance due of $15,520.00. The total amount pledged by the community of St. Anastasia is $268,894.02 leaving a balance to reach the pledged amount of $47,080.16. The key figure is the target amount as that is what we will owe to the Archdiocese, so please be sure and get those pledges in. I do want to remind you that any amount over the $237,334.00 will be retuned 100% to St. Anastasia. Our parish family has pledged a total of $268,894.02, so if that amount is achieved, we would receive, tax free $31,560.02. We understand that some parish members due to unforeseen circumstances will not be able to meet their pledges. We sincerely thank all those that have and continue to participate in the CSA campaign.
From the Office
Well, you just knew things were going too good…our phone system crashed. As you may recall, we just spent $1,100 in December on a new network card that enabled service to all our extensions. As various connections went bad, we disconnected other ones that were low in usage but finally ran out of available live links. People plugging PC’s into the phone-only plugs were the culprits in causing that problem as it would burn out the connection on the network card. We’ve since labeled all plugs as V for voice or D for data to ensure no repeat….well…our voice mail went out several times in the last couple of weeks and we were able to reset the system and keep it going until last week when it died completely. We rely on the voice mail system for emergency calls for those needing a Priest during non-business hours, so it was critical to get it back up and running. The central processing unit was bad and needed to be replaced. This hit us below the belt to the tune of $1,300; for some things there is no choice but to get it fixed as quickly as possible, this was one of them. We were without voice mail to all extensions from 1/21 to 1/24…if you left any staff people messages, they were lost so you may want to re-connect. I had one from an individual wanting to help with the audio-visual system – please call me back.
From the Office
You’ve responded in a big way to the call for Haiti relief funds. For the weekend of 1/24 you donated $12,391 for the relief efforts. Donations are still coming in and we will extend the donation period through this weekend ending 1/31. We will then send the funds to the Catholic Relief Services, earmarked to be used for Haiti relief only. They are now at the phase of the operations where rescue of trapped people is no longer the focus but has shifted to burying the dead and starting to get some type of organization and shelter for the survivors. As I watched the news reports with great interest, I couldn’t help but wonder if the news crews were helping with the rescue efforts or just shooting film and getting pictures…and of course I have to ask the question of where are they now? Keep in mind that as Haiti disappears from the headlines, we can’t let it and the people disappear from our prayers. I feel the real big work is yet to come; it’s easier to save a life than it is to sustain it long term.