Last Updated: Wednesday - 01/05/2011

Sign of Hope looking for over $400,000

EDMONTON — With only a couple of weeks left, Catholic Social Services is looking for more than $400,000 to meet its Sign of Hope campaign goal of $1.53 million.

The agency had raised $1.1 million by Dec. 18. "That means we still need $430,000 by Dec. 31," said CSS spokesperson Laura Kugler.

"Our message would be to encourage our donors who supported us in the past to send in their donations before the 31st of December to ensure that we meet our (campaign) goal."

The campaign seems to be on a similar pace to that of last year and Kugler is confident it will again be successful. "Yes, we are fairly confident," she said. "If people send in their donations, we'll get to $1.53 million."

Parishes in the Edmonton Archdiocese hold a special collection for the campaign each year. Last year they raised nearly $300,000. So far only a portion of the parish collection has reached the campaign offices.

"Parishes usually send in their dollars toward the end of December so definitely that will bring us closer to our goal," Kugler said. Sign of Hope has never failed to reach its goal since it started in 1984.

This year CSS expects to serve more than 60,000 children, men and women through its 139 programs. While all programs benefit from the Sign of Hope campaign, some rely on it more heavily than others.

One of these is the Parent-Teen Mediation (PTM) program, which helps parents and teens resolve conflicts before they become unmanageable. If Sign of Hope meets its goal, CSS plans to increase funding for the program to $120,000 from the current $60,000. The program receives minimal government funding.

Since its 1999 inception PTM has been serving some 200 clients a year and, according to CSS president Al Pierog, the program is important in keeping families together.

"Without this service, many youth in conflict or crisis with their parents end up running away from home, quit school or often end up as clients in the juvenile justice or child welfare systems," he said earlier.

While it costs nearly $1,700 a week to care for a client in the child welfare system, PTM runs at an average cost of $500 a week, including follow up.

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