This article was originally printed in the Hospitallers Newsletter Volume 21 Spring 2021, Pages 16 & 15.

The Capital Campaign continues in its quiet phase. To date, the Campaign has received over $7.3M in commitments from over sixty contributors. This represents an unprecedented level of giving among the donors who have been contacted so far. These leadership gifts are paving the way for a campaign whose goals are to significantly increase the ability of the American Association to deliver on its members charism of commitment to serve the sick and the poor as the road to our own personal sanctification.

We are learning a lot from individual discussions and from Zoom group meetings that can be translated into action that will benefit the Association for the foreseeable future and goes well beyond the financial goals of the Capital Campaign.

One of the key facts we have learned from the members we have spoken to is that you love the spiritual nature of your relationship to the Order of Malta. You cherish the camaraderie of working with your fellow Knights, Dames, Chaplains and Volunteers in service to the sick and the poor. You love the path you have chosen to give witness to your faith by your active involvement in the hands-on work that is the outward sign of your commitment to your faith.

You also told us that you greatly miss the opportunities provided to work together “in close quarters” with other Knights and Dames due to restrictions and legitimate concerns for the safety and well-being of all because of the pandemic.  

Something else we have learned is that many of you never thought about making the Order a high priority in your philanthropic giving. The gap between your deeply felt connection to the spirituality of the Order and the place the Order holds for your financial support is significant; we are hoping that the Capital Campaign will help to bridge that gap. This shift in philanthropic line of sight could have a positive impact that goes far beyond the boundaries of the Capital Campaign.

We also discovered that many members do not know that the funding for the American Association grants program has been coming annually directly from the Malta Human Services Foundation. Even in leadership, we have found an information gap. Members are surprised to learn that their Annual Contributions do not support the Grants Program. The Malta Human Services Foundation is the source of that funding.

That insight has opened the discussion about a simple arithmetic exercise – if the source of the funding for the Grants Program, including the Area Grants Program, is the Malta Human Services Foundation, it stands to reason that the larger the endowment grows, the more funding will be available for grants. Our discussions have opened the eyes of some of our most generous members to a key observation which they have embraced – that the size of the endowment in the MHSF can never be “too big” because the needs will always be there.

It may seem obvious but the ability to provide opportunities for hands-on work in service to the sick and the poor is fundamental to members as they travel toward Heaven; it also provides the window through which non-members can see more clearly how that path might be attractive to them. The combination of spirituality, service and camaraderie is a magnet that can draw others to the Order. The Grants Program supports that hands-on work.

Another one of the goals of the Campaign is to grow the endowment of the Pilgrimage Foundation to generate the income necessary to cover the expenses of sending fifty-five Malades and their caregivers to Lourdes on an annual basis every year into and beyond the foreseeable future. Donations toward this goal will make good on the ability of the Association, in good times and in “not so good times”, to be able to take our beloved Malades to Lourdes.

We are happy to be leading this campaign, but we remind the leaders that this is an American Association Campaign; we are merely playing a role. Ultimately, this is your campaign. We look forward to working with all of you. We ask for your prayers and your feedback. 

This article was contributed by Gail and Joseph Berardino, Co-Chairs of the Capital Campaign.