MONTHLY DONOR TO:
ANNUAL CATHOLIC CAMPAIGN PARISH AMBASSADOR AT:
- Holy Family Parish, Indooroopilly
Colin Apelt is a man of action with a charitable heart. We are fortunate to count him among the 114 wonderful people in the Archdiocese of Brisbane who volunteer their time to promote the Annual Catholic Campaign in their local parish. The help of parish ambassadors, like Colin, is indispensable. Without their participation the Catholic Campaign would not be able to raise enough funds for the critical areas of the Church in one in-pew parish appeal each September.
All his life Colin has had an interest in helping others. Fifty years ago, he and a team of friends volunteered to beat world poverty and hunger, a lofty goal he now realises he tackled rather naively. However Colin’s initial enthusiasm didn’t wear thin and along with several others Colin set up Innocents Relief, a non-profit organisation that sponsors more than 500 children in developing countries worldwide, and was later awarded the Medal of the order of Australia for his work.
Colin has always led a busy life raising eight children with his late wife, Margaret, building a distinguished career and becoming Head of the Civil Engineering Department at UQ. It would see that his retirement is no less busy; among his many commitments Colin lends a hand as a parish ambassador for the Annual Catholic Campaign. When asked about his firm belief in working for the mission of the Church he points to Pope Francis:
“Our Pope keeps saying that the Church must become more outward looking, I would like to see more of this. We need to take care of the day to day operations, but I see so much need out there for what the Church has to offer.”
Colin and all parish ambassadors sacrifice much of their time to ensure a smooth administrative process for parish donations.
The Catholic Foundation is grateful for the assistance, and couldn’t hope to run the Campaign without these talented and dedicated individuals.
In 2015, the faithful at Holy Family Catholic Parish contributed a total of $7,070 to support the Annual Catholic Campaign. Due to an increase in monthly donors this figure was significantly higher than 2014, when the parish raised $2,600. Throughout the Archdiocese of Brisbane regular monthly donors have a long-lasting impact; in 2015 they collectively contributed just over 26% of donations to the Catholic Campaign.
Find out more about becoming an Annual Catholic Campaign parish ambassador.