Bishop’s Angels are special individuals who annually designate a contribution ($2,500+) to support the general operation of the Catholic Foundation and The Providential Care Fund, a fund that allows the Bishop to identify – and respond to – a specific cause at a time of need. A gift to the Bishop’s Angels annual giving fund may can be made in one or multiple installments, including making a transfer from one’s Donor Advised Fund. Supporters of this fund are part of its namesake’s giving society, The Bishop’s Angels Society.
The Impact of the Bishop's Angels
Founded in 2020, The Providential Care Fund provides Bishop Walkowiak and future bishops the ability to identify, and be able to respond to specific causes in a time of need. The Bishop’s Angel’s support of this fund is a tremendous blessing, both to the Bishop and to the grant recipients.
Grant Amount: $6,500
This grant supports Catholic Charities West Michigan’s relaunch of God’s Roamin’ Kitchen program, tackling the issue of hunger in rural, impoverished and underserved West Michigan communities. This program will provide up to 500 free, nutritious meals per week to reach these food insecure communities.
Through the support of the Bishop’s Angels and in partnership with Catholic Charities West Michigan, relaunching God’s Roamin’ Kitchen food truck answers Jesus’s call to “feed the hungry,” and to remedy a key factor of poor healthcare outcomes in vulnerable West Michigan communities.
“We are thrilled to relaunch our God’s Roamin’ Kitchen food truck, after a hiatus due to COVID-19. Thanks to supporters like the Catholic Foundation, we will now be serving hundreds of weekly meals to five different communities in need.”
David Bellamy, Executive Director
Catholic Charities West Michigan
Grant Amount: $12,000
Today’s culture is becoming increasingly casual about abortion, “the moral issue of our time,” according to Bishop Walkowiak. West Michigan needs pregnancy centers that influence and create a culture that brings about a change in the hearts and minds of women so that an abortion decision is not only undesirable, but unthinkable.
Through the support of the Bishop’s Angels and in partnership with HELP Pregnancy Aid, this grant contributes to a culture that honors the sanctity of life through HELP’s programs and services, all of which align with Church teachings.
“This amazing grant will help us take almost 50 years of experience into the next 50 years, giving us the opportunity to open our doors wider than ever before to give more children, both born and unborn a fighting chance for life, and offer women wholistic options embedded in loving relationships.”
Paula Veneklase, Executive Director
HELP Pregnancy Aid
Grant Amount: $16,500
According to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University, about 23.5% of Catholics attend Mass every week. With the prior suspension of public Masses due to COVID-19, more Catholics have fallen into the habit of not attending Mass each week.
Through the support of the Bishop’s Angels and in partnership with the diocesan Office of Communications, this grant will provide a financial boost to a marketing campaign that encourages Catholics back to Mass. Through the Mass, we are called to gather together as God’s people — with the communion of saints, united by the bonds of faith and our reception of the holy Eucharist — to affirm our faith as it grows in our hearts.
“Thank you for your generosity! Your gift will allow us to extend an invitation to more individuals to return to Mass. Our parishes provide a community that many of us are desperately seeking. This is an invitation to return to these communities where we can receive Christ together.”
Annalise Laumeyer, Director of Communication
Diocese of Grand Rapids
Grant Amount: $5,000
This grant allows Catholic Charities West Michigan to purchase new clothes for its Kolbe Center patients, many of whom are coming from the hospital or from situations where they are experiencing homelessness. The Kolbe Center is a behavioral health treatment facility in Muskegon, offering evidence-based treatment and 3–5-night stays.
With the help of the Bishop’s Angels and in partnership with Catholic Charities West Michigan, the Kolbe Center is answering Jesus’s call to “clothe the naked,” and help individuals overcome a chemical dependency in a safe, confidential and supportive environment.
Conor Dugan, Catholic Charities West Michigan Board Chair, accepts grant from Bishop Walkowiak.
“At the Kolbe Center, we often meet our patients during the hardest times of their lives. Thanks to your support and our partnership with the Catholic Foundation, we can now offer the smallest kindness as soon as they arrive, clean new clothes. This gift not only provides comfort and safety, for those struggling, it also shows patients that no one is excluded from God’s love or our support.”
David Bellamy, Executive Director
Catholic Charities West Michigan