By Marie Mulvenna

Four local proposals have been selected to receive archdiocesan funding from the Campaign for Human Development (CHD) drive, held annually in November.

Those projects awarded local funding are: Camp Hallinan, Athens, an amount of $1,227 for camping equipment; Summer Day Camp at St. Paul of the Cross parish in Atlanta, $1,500 for 30 children to attend camp; Rural Social Services by Adrian Dominicans, an amount of $2,500 to establish a team of Sisters in the rural areas of North Georgia as an outreach unit of Catholic Social Services; and the Mechanicsville Auto Repair proposal for an auto repair and mechanic's training center in the Mechanicsville area of Atlanta, an amount of $2,030.

Father Jacob A. Bollmer, archdiocesan director of the CHD program, said the four proposals would receive a total amount of $7,258 which was retained in the archdiocese following the successful 1974 collection of $29,033.

Of the total amount collected in Atlanta, seventy-five percent is allocated for use by national headquarters with one-fourth of the funds utilized locally. The 1974 collection in Atlanta was up $3,000 from the 1973 tally, a fact Fr. Bollmer described as "an excellent example of a Church active within itself, in order that it might be concerned beyond itself for the poor, regardless of who they may be."

The yearly collection, held the Sunday prior to Thanksgiving, was begun in 1970 by America's Catholic bishops as an education-action program to combat poverty in the U.S. CHD provides the primary source of funding for numerous self-projects in the nation, thus changing the lives of countless poor people. CHD works throughout the year with a multi-leveled attack on the conditions that breed poverty and social injustice.

The aim of the drive includes raising national awareness to poverty as well as changing attitudes and emphasizing personal and communal responsibility for fellow Americans who lack the essentials for human life with dignity and self-determination.

The campaign has repeatedly tried to break the "vicious cycle of poverty" which generates helpless conditions throughout the country. Since its inception, CHD has received more than $30 million from American Catholics in the war against poverty. Local and national funding has provided a multitude of projects with needed "seed money" to help them lift themselves out of poverty situations.

Father Bollmer said he thought the Atlanta collection was "a phenomenal response by our Catholic people who always share generously with others." He termed the present collection of $29,033 as an "excellent outpouring to the needs of others in spite of problematic economic conditions." Father added, "I have the highest praise for the sacrifice and generosity of our people who once again responded so beautifully to this drive."

Father Bollmer, who is also executive director of the Department of Catholic Social Services, Inc., said his office would be happy to assist local groups seeking CHD funding from the 1975 collection.

Proposals for funding from local receipts receive in-depth study and evaluation and amounts for allocation are specified by the board of directors of Catholic Social Services, Inc. All proposals for self-help money are based on the needs of the people and are not restricted to Catholic groups. The proposals receiving past assistance have been extremely diversified, Father Bollmer said, adding that the amounts given to the proposals are not large amounts but often help worthwhile programs "get off the ground." In some cases, locally funded projects receive matching amounts from state, federal and foundation funds.