Supporters Like You

In regard to her career as a financial controller and the advancement opportunities she has received, the member of Santa Rosa de Lima Parish in Andice gives credit where credit is due. “I’ve held to the belief that it’s not me, it’s coming from the Lord,” she said. “I need to give back all of the blessings that have been bestowed upon me.”

Through her will, Kristina has ensured this giving will not end with her lifetime. When she wrote her will, she included her parish, the Diocese of Austin’s Catholic Services Appeal (CSA), and other charities and organizations she feels compelled to support now.

She also wants her son to see the importance of giving back, “to have that charitable mindset.” 

Kristina began tithing at age 16 as a waitress and soon realized that what she gave almost always came back to her in some way — at first, with more tips, then later in life, with raises and promotions. She uses these “rewards” to increase her giving to others.

It was during Bible study years ago that she learned the true reward of stewarding God’s blessings in her life. “Doing good deeds doesn’t necessarily make you a Christian,” she said, “but being a Christian drives you to do good deeds.”

The Catholic faith is at the core of the life the Bednars have created together during their more than 41 years of marriage. They share their time and talent with the Diocese of Austin as well as their treasure with their family of faith through parish giving and the Catholic Services Appeal. 

They have also looked past the here and now to the future. Since they have no children, they had always planned to leave the bulk of their estate to the Diocese of Austin in their will. But a meeting with Scott Whitaker, executive director of the Catholic Foundation – Diocese of Austin, led them to explore more ways to extend and maximize their financial stewardship. 

“Particularly appealing to us was the long-term, sustainable investment philosophy — whereby no expenditures were allowed from the principal, and only the income from the endowment could be used to support the work of the diocese,” Cindy said. “We were also drawn to the fact that we could specify how we would like our gifts used to support the work of the diocese.” 

Since supporting seminarians has always been a priority for both her and David, they decided to establish an endowment to support the education of our future priests through the Catholic Foundation – Diocese of Austin.

“Without priests, we would have no Eucharist,” Cindy said. “The decline in the number of priests over our lifetimes is so concerning — what would we do if we had no priests to celebrate Mass and administer the other sacraments?”

She points to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which teaches that the Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life. The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate are bound up with Eucharist and oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself …”

Although they could have specified in their estate plan that they wanted the endowment established after they had passed, the Bednars saw advantages to setting up it now. Not only will the Foundation and the diocese will benefit sooner, but they also felt the process of transitioning their estate to the endowment would be smoother at the time of their deaths. 

In addition, friends and family — as well as other faithful in the diocese — can donate to the David and Cynthia Bednar Endowment if they want to join them in supporting seminarian education, too. David and Cindy provided the initial gift to create their endowment in 2012 and, through their planned giving, have added to the fund on an ongoing basis.

“It has been a great joy to see that the fund has generated income and distributions have already been made to help support our seminarians,” Cindy said. 

The members of St. Mary Cathedral in Austin even have a self-imposed title, “quiet Catholics.” They see themselves like the many people listed in the credits that roll at the end of a movie — those who may not appear on screen but whose role is equally important to making the production a success.   

“That’s what I think of when we describe ourselves as ‘quiet Catholics,’ behind the scenes helping and partnering, if you will, to make the bishop’s mission for the diocese achievable, successful, and ongoing,” Tracie said. “Every gift, large or small, makes a world of difference.”

The Chews’ support extends beyond their parish to the Catholic Services Appeal (CSA) and the Encountering Christ campaign. They are especially dedicated to ministries for the clergy, from their seminary years through retirement. 

In their eyes, “it takes a village” to ensure the men who spend a lifetime serving in our parishes are taken care of during their senior years. “They’ve given so much of themselves, and they don’t do it for the money,” Tracie said.

The couple directs a vast majority of their charitable funds to the diocese or the church, knowing these gifts fund initiatives that help senior priests, like the St. John Paul II Residence for Priests in Georgetown, and assist men who are discerning vocations and in seminary formation.

“There are a lot of great charities out there that we could support,” Kurt said. “But to us, the diocese knows how to best support the mission of Christ in our community.”

His wife agreed. “They know where the needs are and how to prioritize them. So, we totally put our trust in them for that,” Tracie said.

The Chews have included the diocese in their estate plan and, to ensure there are enough priests to sustain the church in Central Texas for future generations, created the Kurt and Tracie Chew Seminarian Endowment in the Catholic Foundation – Diocese of Austin.

“God has truly blessed us with his love and abundant blessings,” Kurt said. “It is important for Tracie and me to give back the many blessings that we have received from God.” 

Giving back to the diocese also brings them joy, he added. “It makes me feel good, not just because I’m giving, but from my heart and my soul. I’m thankful. I’m blessed. I want to help my brothers and sisters in need because we are so blessed.”

Although Cora and her two sisters all entered the convent, only one went on to profess final vows. Instead, Cora graduated from Incarnate Word College (now the University of the Incarnate Word) and dedicated her life to education. Her teaching career took her abroad, to Department of Defense schools in Germany and Japan, before bringing her back to Texas, to the San Antonio School District. In retirement, she taught religious education.

“She was this very ambitious, strong-willed woman,” Michael said. “She was very purposeful in life.”

As president of the board for the Catholic Foundation – Diocese of Austin, Michael realized the importance of sustaining parishes and schools through endowments. Since his aunt’s will already included several Catholic organizations that she supported during her lifetime, he decided to establish endowed funds for a community that lacked any, St. Theresa in Austin.

“I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to set up an endowment, one for the school and one for the church, and enable those as vehicles for further fundraising and long-term support,” he said.

After some deliberation, Michael named the endowments for St. Theresa Catholic Parish and School, even though it meant his aunt would not receive the recognition of having them named for her. 

“I really wanted to honor my aunt, but this is the better long-term approach, and I think it’ll be ultimately more helpful to the church and the school,” he said, adding, “I think she would’ve wanted it that way.”

While many organizations, like parishes and schools, set up endowments with the Foundation, individuals and families can, too, with a minimum contribution of $25,000. Income from these permanent funds is solely used according to the wishes of the donor.

In addition, the Foundation practices Socially Responsible Investing as outlined by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. It does not invest in companies or funds that are exploitive in nature, derive income from the destruction of human life, or hold values in conflict with those of the church.

Campus ministry has long been a focus of the couple’s contributions, since many students drift away from their faith during their college years. The Richards help ensure retired priests can have a comfortable retirement after years of serving parishioners, and they help seminarians because they learned how challenging seminary formation is.

“We don’t have the Catholic Church unless we have priests, and we don’t have priests unless we have seminarians,” Rita said.

The Richards, who moved to Austin from California, belong to St. Thomas More and Emmaus parishes. They support both communities, as well as the Diocese of Austin, and now also contribute to their endowment. “For us, it’s a lifetime commitment,” Steve said. “We’ll continue to contribute to it yearly and then, once we pass, it’s part of our estate.”

Their decision to support these ministries has been reaffirmed many times, such as when a seminarian spoke recently at Mass about his long journey to ordination.

“I think that it’s so important that we support seminarians, and not just with our money, but with our prayers,” Rita said. “To let them know there are people out there praying for them.”

At St. John the Baptist, 20% of the annual budget was dependent on the parish’s annual “feast” held every Labor Day weekend. Similarly, at St. Mary, 30% of the budget came from an annual bazaar.

“I recognized that was going to be a major problem because our budget depends on that so heavily,” he said. “We were just kind of working on a year-to-year maintaining mode.”

And the pandemic has shown that anything can happen at any time.

Fortunately, from his experiences at other parishes, Father Sauser knew of a solution — to create endowments within the Catholic Foundation – Diocese of Austin. The opportunity to establish an endowment — and take advantage of the diocese’s larger investment pool and professional fund management — is available to all parishes, schools, agencies, and organizations in the diocese. An initial gift of at least $10,000 is required, and distributions can begin once an endowment’s value reaches $25,000. 

Father Sauser had previously established six endowments: three for Catholic schools and three for Catholic cemeteries. His efforts account for eight of the foundation’s 56 endowments set up by parishes, schools, and cemeteries, and he has made it his goal to make other pastors aware of the benefits of endowments.

To help his parishioners see their value, Father Sauser invited Dan Wierzbowski, associate director of planned giving for the Diocese of Austin, to speak on the importance of starting a legacy program. First focusing on St. John the Baptist, he had three families approach him after the presentation to offer their support. Together with Father Sauser, they contributed $18,000 to establish an endowment for the parish.

Within two months, 33 additional families added another $10,000; by January 2024, more families had contributed another $15,065, bringing the total amount invested to more than $43,000.

“They can always say no, but if you don’t give them the opportunity, then they’ll never know that they can say yes,” he said.

In February, several families also helped initiate St. Mary’s endowment with a combined initial gift of $20,310. 

Both parishes will consider their endowments fully funded once their values reach $500,000. At that point, Father Sauser estimates they will generate $20,000 a year for general operating expenses.

To reach their goal, Father Sauser is making sure people are aware the endowments are available for their charitable giving, including through their estate plans. He has also contacted area funeral homes so they can advise families of parishioners who have passed to include the parishes as options for memorial gifts. 

“As the pastor, I love the people and I love the community,” he said. “I want them to succeed into the future.”

By remembering the Catholic Foundation – Diocese of Austin in their estate plan, the Tunmires, who are members of Sacred Heart Parish in Waco, will continue to support seminarians, Catholic schools, retired priests, and other programs and ministries that have been important to them during their lifetimes. 

The couple sat down and reflected together on their generosity and how they could still make a difference for years to come. “You’re much better off giving it thought and being thoughtful,” said Robert, who became a Christian in 1999 and then converted to Catholicism after he and Kitty were married. “It doesn’t matter what the amount is.”

Robert’s rich faith life led him to establish the Central Texas Fellowship of Catholic Men in 2005. He is now focused on applying the experience he gained during his 44-year career in franchising to launching and organizing a ministry to men in every U.S. diocese.

“We want to see the Catholic faith flourish, and it really is flourishing right now in the Austin Diocese,” Kitty said.