MARQUETTE — What do Marquette, Sault Ste. Marie and Houghton have in common? Students there as well as other Catholic ministries across the Upper Peninsula have benefited from #GivingTuesday.

The Diocese of Marquette said Lake Superior State University students received funding for their “home away from home” at the Newman Center there. The burgeoning music ministry of St. Albert the Great student parish serving Michigan Tech University students will be able to restore an organ built in the 1880s. Northern Michigan University students are “Lighting the Fire” with more than $11,000 raised to support their ministries.

This year in the Upper Peninsula, 178 donations totaling $32,673 were made to 45 different Catholic ministries. This amount doubled the $16K given for iGiveCatholic in 2019. For complete results of each organization, visit marquette.igivecatholic.org.

“The iGiveCatholic movement is a one-day national campaign that coincides with the global day of giving GivingTuesday. It encourages Catholics across the world to give to their favorite Catholic parishes, schools, and organizations, expressing their gratitude for Catholic ministries,” said Terri Gadzinski, executive director of the Office of Stewardship and Development for the Diocese of Marquette, in a news release.

She said the goal of #iGiveCatholic is to inspire the Catholic community to come together as faithful stewards and to “give Catholic” as a part of their GivingTuesday, which takes place the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.

“We are grateful to the iGiveCatholic organization that allowed for 116 Upper Peninsula Catholic ministries to participate in the event and accept online donations from anywhere in the world,” Gadzinski said. “And we look forward to doing it again next year on Nov. 30, 2021.”