A Lot Can Happen In A Year!

 

It’s been a year since my last Gala at Mt. Notre Dame (MND) and a reminder that one week after The Gala, our school and country basically shut down. I could hardly believe that we had been able to host our newly re-branded event. Some of the things sold at the event, were postponed or cancelled and unable to be redeemed because of the shutdown. It was quite an experience.

This past week was the Mt. Notre Dame Gala (virtually presented on 3/5) and they did a great job! I could not imagine The Gala being an online event. I had been in charge of five Galas, each with a boatload of details and chaos, but presenting an online event is a whole other level. I’m glad for their successes and I wish for them, a great “chaotic” in-person event next March. I miss my friends and I do miss the excitement, but I do not miss the stress of a large event! I'll plan to be a guest at future Galas!

It’s funny that with my new job, our big campaign for this year was actually happening during this same time frame. Normally, they host a spring reception for their donors, a lovely event, held at the home of a board member, often on the river front. However, this year, it is a mail/peer-to-peer donor event, asking generous people to help us continue our mission, without a party!

Fundraising has become a huge challenge with some organizations unable to survive. I am grateful to have found a job that supports Catholic school tuition for the underserved and there is a generous audience for this campaign.

Although there will not be a physical or even an online event, there is still a lot of work, for a part-time role. I have always worked with deadlines and I appreciate them, but not everyone feels that way. However, when you are working with volunteers, you must have patience! I have worked very hard to complete my part of this campaign, and I am happy to say, this week ends the first part of the job. Now, we wait for the money to come rolling in! To my fellow fundraisers, I hear your collective laughs!

I have a lot of faith in this campaign. Number one, we have matching donors for nearly $75,000! This includes $25,000 in matching funds, directed towards recruiting new donors! So, if all goes well, and we fulfill this matching goal, we will achieve our goal!  Job security!! Woo Hoo!!

We have also witnessed the global pandemic and now, we are witnessing the vaccine that will help us get back to some kind of normalcy! I love logging into Facebook and seeing that more of my friends have been vaccinated. I know that those hugs are not far away!

We have seen a presidential election like no other in my lifetime. There have been broken friendships and family ties, but I am starting to see so many people coming back into one another’s lives.

Personally, my buddy Gabriel, celebrated his first birthday, covid style, with no grandparents present. When the pandemic started, I was able to stay several weeks in Pittsburgh with Katie, Anthony & Gabriel. I worked from home, watched tons of Netflix, and planned my move back to Louisville.

Now, I’m starting to look ahead…plans for overnights away, special occasion trips, and it feels good! I won’t have to depend on trips to Kroger for my excitement!

This life I’m living is always changing…not in any big ways, but changing nonetheless. The weather this week has been perfect...today, close to 70. I’ll take it!