A message from Mrs. Ali Cameron, Director of the School Capital Campaign.........

Father Justin has called this a St. Anthony’s Community crisis. We are now at the point where our buildings need to be seismically upgraded for the safety of our children. We have run out of room. But if we don’t build now, our costs will continuously increase due to inflation, up to the point where we may never be able to build. And if we cannot build, then we will fall apart. Can we all imagine what kind of loss that would be to our children and to us? So this is why we need to come together now, as fellow St. Anthony community members, and find ways we can contribute. Find ways to contribute in a manner which would be meaningful to you alone. Please take a moment to think about how you can contribute – whether it is contributing your time to help with the overall fundraising efforts, Buy a Brick, Give a Gift, or tell others, just anyone, that we do need their help. Throughout this campaign, you will have questions. I will help you find answers to them. I will also be responsible for liaisons and communicating School Campaign plans with PEC, Father and Parish. Please come back to check our website regularly for updated campaign news feeds and answers to your questions while we continue to build this site.

Together We Build. Together We Can. Together, with God’s good grace and guidance, we can overcome our St. Anthony's crisis. Or at the very least, we need be able to say that we did our best. From Ecclesiastes chapter 4, verses 9-12: Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. 

So let us stand united, all who are members of the St. Anthony of Padua community - School parents, Parishioners, Staff, Committee members, Alumni, and Friends, as we begin our journey now to resolve our St. Anthony of Padua Community crisis; thus, bringing us closer to one another, and setting great examples of being relevant contributors to our own community, for the sake of our children. This way, they can also grow up to be remarkable contributors and leaders in society and their faith! 

Thank you for your support, and God bless!

October 11, 2018

Do you know that we only need another $400,000 to start the construction process for the Parish Centre project? 

Stay tuned for more campaign news to follow......

November 8, 2018

Why is it a fantastic idea to donate stocks?

While the end of the year is fast approaching, it would be wise to start working on your year-end tax planning strategies.

If you own stocks or mutual funds with large unrealized gains in taxable accounts, then there is a valuable tax strategy to consider. If you are planning to make a substantial donation to a qualified charitable organization, such as St. Anthony of Padua’s Parish, which is in need of capital for the building of the Parish Centre for our children and community members, then consider donating appreciated shares in kind.

A donation to St. Anthony of Padua can be deducted on Schedule A of your federal income tax return as well as the BC-428 schedule as an itemized deduction. The tax planning benefits of donating appreciated shares of stock or a fund include deducting the amount of the charitable donation AND avoiding the unrealized gains on the appreciated shares. The general rule is that the deduction for property donated to charity is equal to the fair market value of the donated property. Where the donated property is “capital gain” property, the donor does not realize the gain on the donated property; hence, resulting in the two tax benefits!

For example, you own shares of stock or a mutual fund that you bought for $5,000 over a year ago, and today it is worth $10,000. If you sold the $10,000 stock instead of donating it, you would pay capital gains tax on the $5,000 gain in value. If your income is relatively high, the tax rate for long-term capital gains is around 24 percent, so your tax on the gains would be $1,200. Selling the stock and giving the cash would actually cost you $11,200.

Instead, if you donated the shares, you would not realize the gain. The tax savings would then be $1,200. Furthermore, you can claim a deduction of the market value of the donated shares (the full $10,000) as a charitable donation deduction. If you are in the 33 percent federal income tax bracket, this could generate another $3,300 ($10,000 X 33 percent) in tax savings. Thus, your total tax savings is $4,500. Considering that you are giving a gift that is twice the amount of the original cost to you. In other words, you are receiving about $4,500 in tax benefits for a donation of property with a current value of $10,000, which originally cost you only $5,000.

One important point to remember is that this tax treatment is only allowed for shares of stock or a mutual fund that you have owned for more than one year. If the shares were held for a year or less, the shares would be treated as ordinary income property, and the charitable deduction would be limited to the cost basis of the shares.

And so, this is why if you donate stocks to the St. Anthony of Padua’s Parish Centre project, your charitable gifts would be less costly to you which could then mean you can give more to the building of the Parish Centre for our children and community members.

Thank you for your generous support and God bless you!