Dear Family and Friends of MDP,
On December 8th, Mother of Divine Providence Parish celebrated its 63rd Anniversary as the Catholic community of King of Prussia. Throughout those many years, we have been blessed with a beautiful campus, an outstanding elementary school and wonderful parishioners.
Most of you who are founding members, built a solid and beautiful campus where the liturgical, spiritual, sacramental, educational and cultural needs of our parishioners can be met. We need now to “Shore up the Future” for the generations of Catholics to come.
Last fall you should have received in the mail a copy of our Parish’s June 30, 2017 Operating Report. Your weekly contributions to the Sunday collection have allowed the parish to operate on essentially a break-even basis.
Like many of us, as our campus ages, it needs repairs that go beyond our normal operating budget which is funded by our Sunday collection. Over the next 2-3 years, we face several large repair and/or replacement projects that are necessary to keep our campus safe and functional. These projects, which can no longer be deferred, include the following:
Year 1*: Resurfacing the church and school parking lots – The current parking lot surface has served us well for over 20 years, easily outliving its expected useful life. Now, with the heavy volume of daily traffic, and the effects of winter de-icing, many sections are crumbling and unsafe. This resurfacing project is expected to cost between $150,000 and $200,000 to complete.
Year 2*: Replacing the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) system – the cooling gas currently used in the church HVAC system, in two years, will no longer be available due to changes in environmental protection laws. This will require us to upgrade to a system compatible with the new standards. Additionally, the current HVAC system used older technology which is less efficient than technology that is presently available. To keep the church properly heated in the winter and cooled in the summer the current system will require replacement. The price tag for this project is also estimated at approximately $175,000 – $200,000.
Year 3*: Convent/Parish Offices – Among the projects to be addressed are the replacement of the window/wall air conditioning units throughout the first floor of the building with more efficient, split cooling systems, and the replacement of the old carpeted areas with new flooring solutions in both the convent living spaces, parish offices and meeting rooms. The price tag for these projects is estimated at approximately $150,000 – $200,000.
*If an emergency should arise, the timing of the projects could be adjusted.
We need your financial help to move forward with these projects. I have set a one-year goal for our parish to raise $200,000 every year for the next three years. Meeting this goal would permit us to complete each larger project.
Please help keep our campus safe and functional by contributing to this appeal. If 500 families pledged $8.00 per week, we will reach our goal. If you need to make a Required Minimum Distribution from your IRA, please consider directing those funds for this purpose. Payments should be made payable to: MDP Shore up the Future and mailed to the parish office. If you have any questions concerning this appeal, please contact Marianne Houston at 610-265-4178 or mhouston@mdpparish.com .
I am grateful for your ongoing support to assure that MDP remains the vital center of Catholic life in our community.
Yours in Christ,
Father Cioppi