Foundation for the Future is a $1.5 million fundraising capital campaign, the bulk of which will be used to pay for the vacant property the parish purchased in early 2023, allowing for future development and expansion of the parish. 

The remainder of the funds raised will be used to pay for several essential upgrades to existing Saint Patrick facilities.

Scroll down to read the latest Campaign Updates (if you're new to the Parish and the Campaign, you may want to scroll to the bottom and work your way up to better understand the campaign and its goals)

HIGHLY ENCOURAGING FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN NEWS

By Father Ivan Nienhaus

As we begin the new year of 2025, we have exciting news to share. Our fundraising efforts through the Foundation for the Future campaign have been positive and highly encouraging. As of January 1, 2025, we received $1,012,277 in cash donations and pledges for $148,338.  We want to thank those individuals who have supported our Foundation for the Future campaign.

We will be starting Year 3 of our campaign in April. We have set the goal of $1.5 million to be raised over a three-year period. As of today, we are still in need of $334,385 in cash/pledges to reach our $1.5 million goal by April 2026.

Once we reach our $1.5 million goal, we will be able to address and complete the various reasons for launching the Foundation to the Future campaign: 

• Pay off our $900,000 loan to the Archdiocese of Dubuque
• Roof repair on the school
• Air conditioner repair at the school
• Furnace repair at the school
• Additional parking on our newly acquired property next to the funeral home. 

St. Patrick Parish is a growing parish in the Cedar Falls/Waterloo metropolitan area. While other parishes in the Cedar Falls/Waterloo area are shrinking in size and numbers, the situation in our parish is strong and positive. The one thing that our parish needs -- and this has been obvious to anyone who has lived in the parish over the years -- is additional parking. The acquisition of the land next to the Richardson funeral home designated for future additional parking spaces should help to alleviate some of our lack of parking at the parish and school. Beyond more parking in the near-term, this adjacent construction-ready lot will enable us to efficiently expand our parish facility complex to

accommodate further growth for decades to come. 

We anticipate continued growth here at St. Patrick Parish in the coming years. Cedar Falls is a vibrant and growing community. As we approach the beginning of the third and final year of our Foundation for the Future campaign in April, we are confident that it will be a success -- if everyone does their part. As of today, we are $334,385 away from reaching our $1.5 million goal. Take a moment to look at our campaign thermometer and consider how far we have come since April 2023. Our goal of $1.5 million is well within our reach. Please consider a gift to help us over the finish line. Visit the campaign page on our parish website at saintpatrickcf.org/foundation-for-the-future for more information and to make an online contribution or print a pledge card. Or contact Justin at the Parish Offices (319) 266-3523 to learn more about our campaign and donate.

We stand on the shoulders of Catholics of previous generations who supported our parish in times of bounty and scarcity. We know that with everyone’s generous help we can build upon the success of past generations, and our Foundation for the Future campaign will be one that will be remembered and recorded in our parish history. The Foundation for the Future campaign speaks of the vibrant faith of our parishioners as we launch our parish/school complex into the 21st century.

May we look forward to the Year of 2025 with great hope and anticipation. God bless you and may God bless St. Patrick Parish.

A note from Fr. Ivan - September 2024

My sincere thanks to everyone who made our Parish Picnic after the 9:30 and 11:30 AM masses a success on September 8. A special thanks to the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Daughters who did most of the heavy lifting to make this Parish Picnic a success. By the time I showed up at 12:45 p.m. for a bite to eat, all that was left to eat was the watermelon.

A couple of parishioners asked me how we got permission to set up tables on the funeral home parking lot. I had to politely remind these parishioners that we own the parking lot and not the funeral home. We own everything on the south side of the Funeral Home from Main Street to Washington Street. Even the small green area next to Main Street is our property. When the city was redoing Main Street in the Summer of 2023, the property development committee made sure that the City put into place all needed underground infrastructure so if and when we might build in the future this type of necessary underground construction had already been completed.

This next question that I was asked was who paid for the new asphalt parking lot south of the Funeral Home. Richardson Funeral Home paid for the new asphalt parking lot. Richardson Funeral Home also does snow removal in the winter free of charge. As many of you already know, when there is a large funeral visitation and/or funeral service at the Richardson Funeral Home they often utilize the parking spaces on the east side of our Parish Offices.

The Parish Council wanted us to have the picnic to help parishioners understand the possibilities that exist with this newly acquired property, and to help parishioners appreciate what future development is possible down the road. The Archdiocese of Dubuque loaned the parish $926,000 to purchase the property in January of 2023. As of September 8, 2024, we still need to repay the Archdiocese the outstanding balance of $350,000. The current annual rate of interest on the loan stands at 3.5 percent. We thank everyone who has contributed to our parish campaign drive entitled, “Foundation for the Future”.

We have done an amazing job embracing this campaign and setting our parish up for future success and growth. Our parish campaign goal consisted of raising $1.5 million. At this time, between money received and money pledged we are at $1,083,000 in donations.

Please continue your prayers for the success of our campaign. If you have not contributed to our campaign, please consider a gift. Contact Justin at 319-266-3523 at the parish office for more information on how you can help us reach our parish campaign goal. Thank you for making St Patrick Church your spiritual home.

—Fr. Ivan Nienhaus 

Year 1 Campaign Update Brochure

A view of our new, spiffed-up lot after infill, grading and seeding and a new sidewalk in late October 2023. Imagine the possibilities with this foundation for the future!

An Update on the Foundation for the Future Campaign and Supported Projects

October 13, 2023

When Saint Patrick Catholic Parish launched the Foundation for the Future campaign earlier this year, the Pastoral Council established a goal of raising $1.5 million. We recognize that this is a challenging amount to raise, but one that is clearly achievable by our parish. I want to take this opportunity to update you on where we stand with the campaign and the projects it will support.

For those who may be newer to the parish, in January of this year, Saint Patrick purchased the half-acre vacant parcel of land immediately north of the church building. The opportunity to buy the land, the former site of the old First Baptist Church, represented a rare occasion to acquire adjacent, buildable property for expansion of our campus. While additional parking will be our most immediate use of the land, it also provides a foundation for future facility expansion to accommodate parish growth.

To enable Saint Patrick to acquire the property, the Archdiocese of Dubuque extended us a line of credit, which we immediately used to buy the land. That line of credit was provided by the Archdiocese contingent upon Saint Patrick establishing this three-year fundraising campaign.

In addition to repaying the Archdiocese approximately $1 million for the cost of the land and preliminary improvements, the capital campaign will aid in funding more immediate capital improvements and repairs, some of which have already been completed. Those projects include repairs to the roof and updating aging heating and cooling systems; concrete and asphalt repairs to the church and school parking and playground, and remodeling work done in the basement for the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program. 

Within the past two months, generous in-kind contributions of time, equipment and materials have resulted in the new property being raised, graded, and seeded with new grass, as well as new sidewalks being poured along the west side of the lot. The Richardson Funeral Home bore the cost of putting a layer of asphalt on the old parking lot adjacent to their Funeral Home. We are grateful for the cooperation and mutual goodwill that exists between the Richardson Funeral Home and St. Patrick Church. 

Additionally, and very importantly, the Cedar Falls City Council in mid-September approved an ordinance change to its downtown development plan. This change provides Saint Patrick greater flexibility in using the new property as an extension of our campus. This was a significant accomplishment and was a great show of support by the City Council for Saint Patrick. 

In the six months since the campaign kickoff, generous contributions from many parishioners have generated a total of nearly $650,000 in cash donations and pledges for the three-year campaign in less than a year. However, as I mentioned in April as we began seeking contributions and pledges, we will need everyone’s participation to make this campaign a success. 

As I have said many times, you can’t out-give God. He is the source of all that we are and all that we have. But if we all share from our hearts what we are able, he will richly bless us in ways that we can’t even imagine. May you enjoy those cooler temperatures of October. October is the month of the Holy Rosary. Say a rosary for the success of our Parish Capitol Campaign. 

Fr. Ivan Nienhaus

September 11, 2023

Grading and sidewalk work begins on new church property

Work has begun to fill and grade low spots on the new church lot at the corner of Washington and 7th Street. The goal is to have the lot graded, seeded for grass, and any needed sidewalk repairs completed before the ground freezes this fall.  City officials have been notified of the work that will be taking place.

The Property Committee especially wants to thank those who are contributing the bulk of this work at minimal cost to the church, including Dave Guetterman for doing the grading; Peterson Contractors Inc. (PCI) for donating the fill material; Brad Best and his company, Peters Construction Corp., for the sidewalk replacement and perimeter stormwater control materials; Benton Concrete for the sidewalk replacement.

Several parishioners will also be helping with seeding and sodding. Please be aware that there may be some heavy equipment traffic in and out of the property over the next several weeks as the work is completed.

City Council votes in favor of parking code changes

On August 21st the Cedar Falls City Council gave initial approval to a proposed amendment to the downtown code giving more flexibility to civic and institutional organizations for parking. This is an important initial step towards developing the new church property acquired in January.

A big thanks to the Property Development and Campaign Committees for all their work to help make this happen! The code amendment will be considered twice more by the City Council in September, so please continue to pray for the project and our Capital Campaign to fund it! 

The Property Development Committee members are Laura Schaefer, Lisa Ahern, Donna Bash, Paul DiMarco, Tom Hoag, Justin Krieger, Roger Kueter, Bill Ludwig, Joe Sevcik, Brad Best, Dave Guetterman, Cody Vanasse, Fr. Ivan Nienhaus, Jon Wiebers, Danica Wilcox and Carri Zehentner.

Capital Campaign Update



July 7, 2023

Dear St. Patrick Parishioners,

As you know, we are a couple months into our capital campaign, Foundation for the Future. When we formally introduced this campaign in April, we mentioned we would give periodic updates regarding what we are doing with the property.

First of all, we want to thank everyone who has contributed to the campaign in any way, whether it be by donation, pledge, or prayer. After last weekend’s Masses, we are just over 36% of our goal of $1.5 million dollars.

As you may have seen in City Hall meetings, or in the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier recently, St. Patrick parish is pursuing options for usage of the property. Given the city zoning code is a bit restrictive, we are working with city leaders to ensure we are doing what is best for our future and for the city of Cedar Falls. We will continue to update as we have new information.

If you have any questions, would like to donate, or would like to be involved in our Property Development team, please reach out to Parish Council Chair, Laura Schaefer, or contact Justin Krieger in the Parish Office. Thank you for helping us build our foundation for the future.

Sincerely,

The Property Development Team

Campaign Launch Video