The Rev. Josip Galic, SVD
Our Lady of the Assumption Church
P.O. Box 62 Morant Bay, St. Thomas, Jamaica
Tel: 876-982-2250; Fax: 876-734-2455

Advent 2002

Greetings from Jamaica. I hope this letter finds you and your family rich in God’s blessings.

Since I last wrote about the Croatian Catholic Bosnian Children’s Fund in the attached letter, much has happened. The program has been introduced to a number of people and there has been much enthusiastic response to the general idea. However, it is impractical to conduct fund raising without an umbrella organization. I am contacting you in the hope that you can help. We have identified twenty-five children in great need of support in order for them to obtain an education. If this venture is fruitful, with God’s help, more children could benefit from your assistance.

I am attaching my previous letter to you written in May of this year. It explains the reasons for the fund and why we are dependent on your generous support. Please feel free to share this with your family and friends, and ask them if they are also interested in contributing to this fund.

Based upon advice and wisdom I have received, after speaking with my religious superiors, we have done the following:

1. Establish an account for tax deductible donations to benefit children in Bosnia at the following address:
   Brother Dennis Newton, SVD
   Divine Word Missionaries
   P.O. Box 6099
   Techny, IL 60082

   Checks should be made payable to the Divine Word Missionaries, but indicate that the donation is for Fr. Galic and the Bosnian Children’s Fund.

2. The Society of the Divine Word Missionaries Office will promote and directly support this fund. They will also send the funds collected to the Sisters of the Child of Jesus, who will make sure they are only used for the intended purposes.

3. Each Bosnian child will have a donor list at the Mission Office in Techny, Illinois. It is possible to provide the prerequisites in order to allow a child to obtain an education, including books, school materials, school fees, bus fares, and other needs, for $80 to $100 per month. You may choose to have all your contributions go to a specific child or the money will be placed in a general fund to be used if and when a benefactor cannot make an entire monthly contribution, so that the child’s education will not be interrupted. We understand that monthly contributions are sometimes difficult but any support you can provide will make a major difference to the life of a young child and provide hope for the future.

4. Dr. Vladimir and Mrs. Ljerka Knezevic will monitor the program along with Dr. Danica Ramljak are fluent in Croatian and English. They have a real passion and zeal for this project. They will ensure confidentiality so that all the donations will go to the proper authorities. It has been arranged that they will receive regular reports from Bro. Dennis Newton, SVD on how the fund is operating. Since they live in the United States, it is easy for you to contact them if you so chose. Their address and phone number is:

   Dr. Vladimir Knezevic
   27 Story Drive
   Gaithersburg, MD 20878

   Home phone 301-947-4260
   Work phone 301-435-7850
   Fax number 301-402-3134

I hope that God’s blessing and help will make it possible for us to see each other in the New Year. Thank you for your time, your willingness to share your gifts and your prayers for those who are most destitute. Be assured of my prayers and remembrances at the Holy Eucharist. May God generously bless you for your generosity to others.

May the hope for a new and brighter future, which dawn with them, be yours this Christmas and throughout the New Year.

In the Divine Word,

Fr. Josip Galic, SVD