Priest takes unique approach to raise World Youth Day funds for young adults

Father Jonathan Meyer, pastor of St. Mary, St. Ann and St. Joseph parishes in Jennings County, sits behind the wheel of his 2009 Toyota Corolla, which he is giving away to raise funds to help nine young adults attend World Youth Day on Aug. 16-21 in Madrid, Spain. Six young adults from Jennings County parishes posing with Father Meyer to promote the fundraiser are, from left, Danny Capes, Kelly Ertel, Charlotte Leach, Amber Andrews, Laura Coons and Kate Eder. Capes, Ertel, Leach, Coons and Eder are among the World Youth Day pilgrims. (Submitted photo)

By Mary Ann Wyand

How do the scenic country roads in Jennings County connect to the route to World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid, Spain, this August?

And how can a car instead of an airplane or boat help get the World Youth Day pilgrims from Jennings County overseas to Europe to pray with Pope Benedict XVI and hundreds of thousands of young Catholics from all over the world?

Ask Father Jonathan Meyer, who has ministered as the pastor of St. Mary Parish in North Vernon as well as St. Ann and St. Joseph parishes in Jennings County for nearly three years.

Better yet, support his clever World Youth Day fundraiser with generous donations before it ends on May 28.

If you do, Father Meyer might give you the keys—and the car title—to his black 2009 Toyota Corolla!

That would definitely make for a memorable Memorial Day weekend, he said, and at the very least you will be helping to defray the cost of participating in World Youth Day on Aug. 16-21 in Spain for nine Jennings County young adults.

You could say that Father Meyer “felt driven” to give up his car for the good of the young Church.

He hopes to raise $25,000 by selling $5 tickets—or five tickets for $20—for the car during May.

“I thought about the possible revenue and was inspired to help the young Catholics of my area,” Father Meyer explained. “… I was looking for a way to alleviate—to the best of my ability—the burden of the cost of World Youth Day and to make it a reality for the young people.”

He will give away his car at 8 p.m. on May 28 during a concert from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the St. Mary Parish Center, 212 Washington St., in North Vernon.

In recent weeks, he said, people have looked at him incredulously and asked, “You really want to give away your car?”

Yes, he assured them, but not his personalized license plate, which reads, “Go2Mass.”

“I’ve had a lot of compliments,” Father Meyer said. “A lot of people are very appreciative of it as an act of generosity and kindness. I hope that it’s also an example of stewardship and of giving back. I look at what I’ve received from God and the Church and my parishioners, and I do want to give back to that.

“This fundraiser is about people donating money to the young Church and to the young adults who are excited about their faith,” he said. “It’s about helping them to have the opportunity to pray with the pope. Every dollar that is given is really a dollar given to furthering our young people’s faith. The car is just a small side note to what this fundraiser is all about. … Investing in our youth is the best thing I can do. We need good families, and they will come from strong, young people who are striving to be saints to God.”

In addition to giving away his car, Father Meyer is promoting devotion to Jesus and Mary through the sale of a rosary CD that he co-produced as another unique World Youth Day fundraiser.

Jennings County Young Catholics are hoping to sell thousands of the CDs for a 100 percent fundraising profit.

Danny Capes, a member of St. Ann Parish in Jennings County, is excited about participating in the international Catholic gathering with the pope, and grateful to his pastor for helping to make the pilgrimage more affordable.

“[Father Meyer’s] generosity is the reason why I can go to Madrid and to World Youth Day,” Capes said. “Without that, I would not be able to be a part of something wonderful—something that may have an incredibly profound impact on my faith and on my life.”

(For more information about the World Youth Day car and rosary CD fundraisers, log on to www.stmaryscc.com/jcyc.) †