Dear friends,
For the past 15 years, the support, encouragement, prayers and friendship of so many viewers, donors and supporters across Canada have sustained us and made possible the tremendous growth of Canada’s only national Catholic Television Network and Multi-Media organization. We could not have done it without you! Salt and Light still exists today because so many of you have believed in us, supported us and allowed us to share good news with the world.
This year, I have a very urgent request of you. As many of you know, Salt and Light employs many students and young people to help us in the mission of Education in the Church's mission of Evangelization. Over our 15-year history, we have taken great pride in hiring, promoting, and training young adults to learn valuable media skills and help form the next generation of faith-filled Catholics. By now you are undoubtedly aware and many have been affected by the recent actions of the Canadian government regarding the Canada Summer Jobs Program. These actions involve all applicants to confirm certain ideological requirements that are inconsistent with or infringe on our Catholic values and beliefs. As Catholics, our position is that no one should be forced to make application for a government grant that requires support of abortion or other issues that are clearly against the teaching and tradition of the Roman Catholic Church.
Due to this regrettable action on the part of the government, Salt and Light cannot in good conscience apply for these grants. We are funded primarily by donations and the support of our benefactors. These government grants are made available to employ and train our Canadian youth, supplement our summer internship funding and other on-the-job training programs at our Toronto and Montreal offices. This has troubled me greatly as I know of the benefit these young people have had on our mission.
You may have recently received an urgent email about this loss of funding and I am heartened and grateful to those who responded so quickly to support our call to action. However, much more is needed to fill the gap this year and to provide funding for future years. Please help us with your donation to make up this shortfall. As we celebrate our 15th Anniversary, we must find $100,000.00 that will allow us to continue our tradition of employing young Canadians who help us in our mission of education in the Church's mission of Evangelization through the Salt and Light Media ministry.
May the new life, hope, joy and mercy of the Risen Lord remain with you throughout the days of Holy Week and the Easter season. On behalf of our entire staff, thank you in advance for your friendship, encouragement and continued financial support. We can’t continue without you!
Yours in the Risen Lord,
Rev. Thomas Rosica, CSB
CEO, Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation
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