Renaming the 'poor box'

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reagent6

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Hello my brothers and sisters
I have recently taken on responsibility for posting bulletin announcements for a parish organization that helps needy families in our community. A significant amount of our budget comes from donations to the poor boxes at the doors of the church. It has been suggested that the term ‘poor box’ may be offensive to some people. In addition many of our group’s activities funded by the poor boxes are intended to keep families out of poverty in the first place.

In the bulletin announcements I most often refer to ‘needy’ families and individuals. However the term ‘poor box’ is so steeped in tradition that I use it when asking for donations- i.e."please consider making a donation in the poor box in order to help needy families. "

I am wondering if others here have encountered similar issues and if so how have they been handled? Have you had push-back on the term ‘poor box’ or have you encountered resistance when you tried to rename it? What other name for it did you use?

Personally I am content with keeping the name ‘poor box’ but not if the term is offensive to others.
 
What is so offensive about a “poor box”? Jesus said that the “poor” would always be with us. If Jesus can use the term, why can’t we?

But I am sure somebody will take offense, but who cares?
 
Generally, the people you are appealing to to fill the poor box are not poor, so they should not be offended by the name. From a marketing standpoint, a name change is usually not advisable.
 
“The Receptacle for Goodwill Donations Towards The Alleviation Of Monetary Insufficiency Amongst Respected Individuals/Households”
 
How about calling it John?

On second thought that name is taken for something else.😊
 
Poor box is fine. It is not offensive and it’s meaning is clear to everyone.
 
In our parish, the box is simply labeled “St. Vincent de Paul Society”.
 
I personally wouldn’t worry about “political correctness” or whatever you had in mind. “Poor box” seems totally fine to me.
 
If that’s worst thing to worry about in the parish…
Congratulations! It’s a fine-tuned machine! 😃
 
Stick with “poor box.” The modern tendency to replace simple, direct and easily understandable terms with more obscure circumlocutions ought to be resisted. 👍
 
reagent6 said:
Hello my brothers and sisters
I have recently taken on responsibility for posting bulletin announcements for a parish organization that helps needy families in our community. A significant amount of our budget comes from donations to the poor boxes at the doors of the church. It has been suggested that the term ‘poor box’ may be offensive to some people. In addition many of our group’s activities funded by the poor boxes are intended to keep families out of poverty in the first place.

In the bulletin announcements I most often refer to ‘needy’ families and individuals. However the term ‘poor box’ is so steeped in tradition that I use it when asking for donations- i.e."please consider making a donation in the poor box in order to help needy families. "

I am wondering if others here have encountered similar issues and if so how have they been handled? Have you had push-back on the term ‘poor box’ or have you encountered resistance when you tried to rename it? What other name for it did you use?

Personally I am content with keeping the name ‘poor box’ but not if the term is offensive to others.
Click to expand...
Incase you hadn’t noticed the PC stuff is killing our Church!
 
PietroPaolo said:
Stick with “poor box.” The modern tendency to replace simple, direct and easily understandable terms with more obscure circumlocutions ought to be resisted. 👍
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Agreed - people today are too easily offended.
 
“ALMS”

Sufficiently neutral as well as traditionally solid. It will irritate everyone.
 
Allegra said:
In our parish, the box is simply labeled “St. Vincent de Paul Society”.
Click to expand...
👍

I don’t know about tradition, and I do not know if this is a comparative.

Clothes not suitable to sell at a charitable thrift shop were bagged and labeled “homeless.”
Having been so closely threatened with that myself, I asked if the bags could be labeled simply “donations.” Somehow I didn’t want/need to be reminded. I figured the ones receiving the clothes should have fun “shopping” instead of being reminded why they had to “shop.”
 
Nobody want to consider themselves needy although everybody needs help from time to time. Stick with poor box for those less fortunate. Less fortunate is much better than “needy.” Needy implies that a person is not trying, which is not necessarily the case. Less fortunate leaves out the judgment. Was a family abandoned? Were there medical issues? Did they come through a natural or personal disaster? These are things that none of us knows. Many families go through hard times.
 
I agree with the other posters. Everyone understands what the poor box is. Calling it something else is not going to make any difference.
 
reagent6 said:
Hello my brothers and sisters
I have recently taken on responsibility for posting bulletin announcements for a parish organization that helps needy families in our community. A significant amount of our budget comes from donations to the poor boxes at the doors of the church. It has been suggested that the term ‘poor box’ may be offensive to some people. In addition many of our group’s activities funded by the poor boxes are intended to keep families out of poverty in the first place.

In the bulletin announcements I most often refer to ‘needy’ families and individuals. However the term ‘poor box’ is so steeped in tradition that I use it when asking for donations- i.e."please consider making a donation in the poor box in order to help needy families. "

I am wondering if others here have encountered similar issues and if so how have they been handled? Have you had push-back on the term ‘poor box’ or have you encountered resistance when you tried to rename it? What other name for it did you use?

Personally I am content with keeping the name ‘poor box’ but not if the term is offensive to others.
Click to expand...
I see no need to change it.

Ed
 
I am not involved in any of these things, but one thing that surprises me, is that people regularly go to mass, tourists visit churches yet, the church does not do the simplest thing, building an e-mail list, which you can then send to the members.

Make entrance free, and make people sign. Then you can promote further events in the community to help your needs. People are more likely to give this way.

With the mailing list, you can also build your other social networks Facebook, Twitter etc, ask for donations.

When I travel, I always visit the Churches in the area, yet I cannot sign to receive information on the church etc.

I believe this should be done worldwide.
 
infonote said:
I am not involved in any of these things, but one thing that surprises me, is that people regularly go to mass, tourists visit churches yet, the church does not do the simplest thing, building an e-mail list, which you can then send to the members.

Make entrance free, and make people sign. Then you can promote further events in the community to help your needs. People are more likely to give this way.

With the mailing list, you can also build your other social networks Facebook, Twitter etc, ask for donations.

When I travel, I always visit the Churches in the area, yet I cannot sign to receive information on the church etc.

I believe this should be done worldwide.
Click to expand...
I like that the Church has always remained a place where people from all places of the world can come and go as they please.
Some churches, especially in tourist destinations do have Guest books in the back for sign in. I am happy that the Catholic Church has not resorted to using the mailing lists to send junk mail or Spam through e-mail to solicit donations.
Yes, there are some Catholic charitable organizations that do this. The Catholic Church is first and foremost a place of worship. I would not want its mission distracted.
Many parishes do have websites. Do you accept the parish bulletin from the parish that you are visiting after attending Mass? If the parish has a website, it should be listed in the parish bulletin enabling you to learn more about the church and contribute freely as you choose. Sometimes they will leave leftover bulletins at the back of the church if you visit during the week.
It is great that the Catholic Church encourages freewill giving over soliciting our gifts.
 
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