As a staff member at Mary of the Visitation Church in Becker/Big Lake,  I'm writing to share a story of a wonderful and generous event that recently took place in our parish.

 

Vicki Erickson, a member of the parish and an employee at SeQuel Response, a marketing firm in Eden Prairie, recently approached our staff with a fundraising event idea.  SeQuel began a new program of corporate gift matching of funds up to $2,500 that their employees help raise for a charity of their choice. 

 

In just a months time Vicki, myself and other members of the parish planned and implemented "Wishes with the Stars" on Feb. 15 from 4-7 pm at theBig Lake campus. We turned our church basement into Oscar Night--complete with a red carpet, the paparazzi, delicious meal, an array of decadent desserts, musician, and selfish studio.

 

It was a night of MVPs, Mary of the Visitation Valuable Parishioners, enjoying an opportunity to share in fellowship.  Any proceeds, which we were hoping for at minimum $2,500, would go towards the parishes "wish list" of repairs, replacement or acquisition of items we would like to do but are not able to due to the constraints of our  budget.  Things such as repairing the stained glass windows at the Big Lake church, listening devices at our Becker location, or AEDs at both locations.

 

We extended the discounted ticket sales to.include that weekend....and after the Saturday evening Masses we were at about $1000.  A long way from $2500.  But we forged ahead and were determined to make it an evening not to forget and one that everyone would enjoy.

 

 And we succeeded.

 

 It was a very enjoyable and beautiful event.  With the donations of the food, wine and beer, decorations as well as the walk in ticket sales , the last minute addition of a silent auction, and photo orders from the red carpet and selfie studio shots, we raised $3,058.  And with the matching gift of $2,500 we were elated with the outcome.

 

But that's not the story.

 

When Vicki met to receive the check from her boss, Jay Carroll, he. congratulated her and her team for their efforts and success and told her they decided to match our proceeds with a check forget $3,000!  Wow!  But then he went on to say that they decided to double it and presented Vicki with a check for $6,000!

 

 We believe this is a story and challenge to others that should be shared.  I've attached the bulletin blurb from Jay we included describing his company's philosophy and commitment to giving to others and the benefits of doing so for your reference and review.  If you would like to discuss the possibility of including this in an upcoming issue of the Visitor, I would be happy to do so!

 

"In 2015, our company, SeQuel Response, launched a new campaign called “SeQuel Sharing” in hopes of engaging our employees to participate in giving a portion of their time and money to serve Christian ministries and/or local non-profit organizations.  We believe our business has been abundantly blessed by God since we launched in 2010 and we are very committed to giving back a portion of our profits each year – as it is outlined in the Bible.  This year we wanted our employees to share in both the discipline and joy of giving by offering to match any funds they personally give or raise in 2015 – up to $2,500 each.

 

 We hope that this program will give our employees more purpose in what they do each day at the office…knowing that the more success we have, the more good we can do for the church and the charities we support.  Measuring the bottom line is an important practice in business, but measuring the amount we give and serve each year is much more meaningful and significant.  We hope that this approach will translate to our employees’ personal lives - in addition to more companies throughout this community. Jay Carroll, Partner, SeQuel Response."