CCF-LA News | December 15, 2023 | |
Jesus is the Ultimate Christmas Gift! | |
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Kathy Anderson
President and Executive Director
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The gift of giving!
Sounds confusing? What is the gift of giving all about? It’s about the giver – that’s a person who acts on the selfless idea of helping others. The act of giving begins with compassion for others. Help doesn’t need to be cash, check or credit card, it means putting in action a way to assist others in need. How we accept a gift is equally as important as how we make a gift.
As we prepare for Christmas during this Advent season, these four weeks are all about getting ready to receive the ultimate gift of the son of God. Jesus is the most perfect gift and was given to us for everything that we need to keep us on the path to heaven. Christmas is about unconditionally accepting the gift of Jesus in our lives.
How can we best prepare to receive Him at Christmas? We can be the person that finds and creates peace and harmony in our family and with our friends. We can find ways to reach out to the poor and marginalized by contributing or volunteering at a food bank or giving a cash or a food gift card to the homeless we see every day in our communities. We can send a memorial or honorary gift to a favorite charity to say thank you for someone we appreciate. We can visit the sick and take some homemade goodies to share with caregivers.
We can prepare to accept Jesus at Christmas by speaking out for the values of our faith and giving witness by our actions. With so much trouble in our world, we can go to church, pray, and learn to find Jesus in the face of everyone we meet. Being a giver is the real gift that we offer to Jesus at Christmas.
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Welcome Bishop Matt!
In the spirit of generous giving, we are so pleased to announce that Bishop Matthew Elshoff, O.F.M. Cap. has joined our CCF-LA Board.
His remarkable background makes him uniquely qualified to serve. His leadership spans from the presidency at St. Francis High School, to the provincial minister and novice master for the Capuchins, to pastor of Old Mission Santa Ines in Solvang, to pastor of St. Lawrence of Brindisi Church in Watts. He has been a teacher, a chaplain, a counselor, a vocation director, and a friend to many in our Catholic community in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
“I have admired the work of CCF-LA for eight years” says Bishop Matt. “As pastor, St. Lawrence of Brindisi School has been a priority for me and the beneficiary of their programs to support tuition assistance, teacher’s compensation, and even a special fund the pastor can use for school emergencies. I am looking forward to raising the level of awareness of CCF-LA’s mission in the Our Lady of the Angels Region, bringing their resources to other parishes and schools.”
Bishop Matt is a strong advocate for the mission of the CCF-LA and most especially for the work that our grants do to support Catholic school education as well as those that provide social services for the poor and marginalized. The Bishop Matt Elshoff Charitable Fund is an excellent example of his commitment to raising awareness and funding by providing his friends with an opportunity to support his charitable goals through CCF-LA’s philanthropy management services.
Born in Ohio and the oldest of five, his family moved to La Canada where he attended St. Bede the Venerable church and elementary school and then on to St. Francis High School. In 1982 he was ordained by the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. Bishop Matt has served in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for 35 of his 41 years as a priest. It was on July 18, 2023, that Pope Francis appointed him as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angles. He was ordained to the episcopacy on September 26, 2023.
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Jimmy Ozaeta
Vice President of Development, Assistant Treasurer
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December Development
As Christmas fast approaches, the spirit of “Giving” is in the air. This is a very busy time for the Catholic Community Foundation of Los Angeles (CCF-LA). We not only see a big increase in grant activity for the Christmas season, but we are also helping our clients with their year-end giving and helping future clients understand their charitable options through CCF-LA.
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The holidays are when families get together and many have conversations about their future charitable plans. We encourage our clients to take this time to share their philanthropic goals with their families and have meaningful discussions around the importance of giving.
CCF-LA helps clients easily give more and save more. When clients give to their CCF-LA Charitable Fund, they are eligible for an immediate tax donation credit and their contribution grows through their chosen investment fund. Most importantly, our staff believes in our mission to empower clients to develop and sustain their philanthropy in support of Catholic values.
Join the CCFL-LA effort to spread the great joy of giving, please call us if you can benefit from our philanthropic management solutions. We welcome your referral.
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The Virtuous Circle of Giving and Receiving
How wonderful it is to see your contributions in action and the ripples that spread from them!
Just a year ago, I joined CCF-LA to make an impact on the community and be a part of a mission that is bigger than me. As the Director of Client Services, my focus is to channel our clients’ generous gifts that benefit so many churches, students, schools, and charities. These grants truly change people’s lives,
and I relish the joy that comes from being hands-on in this process of giving.
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Through November 30, we issued 666 grants and redemptions for a value of $78.5 million and the year is not over yet. Our busy season is Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve. During this time, we are processing gifts of cash, credit cards, marketable securities, and online transactions for both grants and gifts on our website.
There is an important dual level of care which our clients rely on from us.
(a) to make deposits and issue tax receipts.
(b) to issue grants and redemptions, all within a day or two.
These two actions complete the virtuous circle of giving and receiving. Our clients charitable giving is closely connected with the beneficiary’s needs, and both sides of the transaction are carefully documented with gratitude.
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Tania Naaman
Director of Client Services
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Armando Nevarez
Controller and Assistant Treasurer
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As we enter this busy Christmas season where our clients are moved to give more,
we welcome the opportunity to make sure all gifts and donations are processed quickly and efficiently. Your accounts grow tax-free and expand your charitable giving capacity. The Finance Team is grateful to be a part of a Foundation with such devoted and generous clients.
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Attached is the November 2023 Performance Report for the pooled funds managed by CCF-LA. For the month of November, the Balanced Pool portfolio returned +7.45%, net of fees, outperforming the allocation benchmark return of +7.42%. The YTD returns are +10.08%, net of fees, for the eleven months ending November 30, 2023, outperforming the allocation benchmark of +9.93%. The Intermediate Fund pool returned +1.94% for the month and +7.27% so far this year. The estimated annual yield on the Short-Term Investment Fund account is currently +5.46%.
Capital markets rebounded strongly in November with global stocks recording their strongest month in three years. Markets were fueled by a cooler than expected CPI reading for October which strengthened investors’ beliefs that the Fed may be done raising rates and interest rates cuts are on the horizon.
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God calls us to use our gifts, talents, and influences to serve others. As we wrap up 2023, we reflect on what we gained, what we lost and along the way all that we have learned. The stories we shared throughout the year. Have hopefully touched someone’s life to use their gifts and talents to help others as well. This chain reaction is a good thing. We sometimes think we’re going to be blessing someone through our good works and in return we are the ones being blessed. Now is the time and the season to serve those. We look forward to 2024 as we go through this journey together.
Bonnie Peralta
Marketing Assistant
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Dominican Sisters Vision of Hope
Congratulations to the new Executive Director Nicole Johnson on a successful fundraising event. Vision of Hope is a network of eight under-resourced Catholic elementary schools in the tradition of the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose. Through tuition assistance and program investments, Vision of Hope strengthens and sustains Catholic education for the children of these schools and their communities. Jimmy Ozaeta and Tania Naaman attended their fall luncheon on Wednesday, November 15th.
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26th Annual Lou Nevarez Scholarship Dinner
Congratulations Cathedral High School on your 26th Annual Lou Nevarez Scholarship Dinner, held on Friday, November 17th at The Grammy Museum Terrace at LA Live. The Nevarez family continues the legacy of Lou’s commitment to providing access to Catholic education to young men from low-income families by providing scholarships and financial aid. We are proud to share that Armando is the son of Lou Nevarez and CCF-LA’s Controller.
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Catholic Charities of Los Angeles Christmas Gala
The annual Catholic Charities of Los Angeles City of Angels Christmas Gala took place on Friday, December 1st. The event recognized Msgr. Greg Cox’s 40 years at Catholic Charities, including 30 years as the Executive Director, emphasizing his commitment to manifesting Christ’s spirit by providing services to the vulnerable, promoting human dignity, and advocating for social justice. With tables sponsored by CCF-LA clients, our guests included leadership from the Archdiocese, St. John’s Seminary, the Caruso Catholic Center, three Catholic high schools and two local Filipino businesses.
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The attitude is always gratitude for the CCF-LA team!
The gift of giving is sometimes unseen but yet has the same value as being seen.
It is important for us to help others outside and inside our office walls. We motivate each other and look forward to our Friendsgiving luncheon this time of the year, this is what brings us together. As we help each other and are thankful for great teammates and good food!
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Mission Statement
The Catholic Community Foundation of Los Angeles empowers charitable individuals and organizations across cultures and generations through professional philanthropy management solutions that allow clients to develop and sustain their philanthropy in support of Catholic values.
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