Winter Appeal 2023
To our friends,
2023 has been a long year with many ups and downs for us all. As we close out the year, we at SNAP hope that you are feeling like you are on your way to being healthy, fulfilled, and happy. This past year has brought both successes and challenges. Thanks to the support you have shown in the past, we’ve been able to celebrate the good days and weather the stormy ones. Now, we are once again asking for your support as we work to support survivors new and old as we ‘Move SNAP Forward.’
At SNAP we are proud to have hosted a very well-attended conference in August 2023. This event allowed us to gather friends, survivors, advocates, and allies for a weekend of camaraderie and connection. We were so happy to be able to welcome many first-time attendees to gather in person and are already looking forward to the next conference.
To strengthen our movement for justice, healing, and prevention, SNAP will be expanding our peer support and providing more volunteer opportunities in the coming year. Through this great work, we are ensuring survivor voices are represented as we work for significant change that will benefit children and survivors.
Right now, survivors worldwide are getting the help they need from SNAP, and more and more reach out to us daily, but we need your help to keep those programs going and get our volunteers the training they need to thrive.
Your tax-deductible gift to SNAP can help offset the cost of our important mission. If you are not in a position to contribute, you can still support us by sharing this letter with those who can. As we continue to fight for survivors across the globe, your donation or sharing the great work SNAP does will help us continue our work to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded, and prevent abuse.
Your donation ensures SNAP will be there for those who need us more than ever!
Warmly,
Michael W. McDonnell, C.P.S.
Interim Executive Director
Showing 11 comments
God bless you and thank you for all you do.
I no longer am a member of the Church. The reasons for leaving the Church are profound. When a scandal of sexual abuse arose at my daughter’s Catholic grammar school, I was one of those parents to speak up against what happened in the school she attended while other parents remained silent. I immediately took her out of the school for protection purposes then, criticized by my own family members. There was not a moment that I felt to do “nothing” about what was going on. Yes, “jail” the perpetrator and “fire” the accessory for the crime committed. The Church will only change if the members step up and confront the leaders to take action. That said, it’s not enough to pray for the sinners which Pope Francis seems to espouse in his comments on sexual abuse in the Church.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/04/opinion/the-catholic-churchs-sins-are-ours.html?emc=eta1
It highlights the least talked about but most salient perspective of “Spotlight”. It was not just the bishops and the Vatican who covered up and looked the other way. We also did. We the Faithful in the pews allowed this scandal to continue by not being vocal enough and strong enough to demand change. And it continues. Francis says that any bishop who has allowed predator priest to remain in ministry should resign. “Should resign”? Francis, you are the boss. Fire them. Take them out of their position of authority, because they no longer can fulfill their role as shepard. Because what they have done is sin against God, the Church, the victims, the family of the victims and all of the faithful under their care. Should resign? NO. FIRE THEM. You have the authority and the responsibility.
Today another diocese in Pennsylvania is in the news for the same reason. We practicing members of the Church demand their removal. Not suggest. Not hope for. DEMAND.
Tom Norris
I never knew this site existed, till this movie