Saint John Baptist de La Salle Fund Reaches Two Milestones
Ms. Joram poses with her class at La Salle Academy in Philadelphia PA.
The Brothers are proud to announce that they are nowbeginning the twentieth year of providing tuition assistance tothose students most in need across the District through their St. John Baptist de La Salle Fund (The Fund). In addition, for thefirst time, the distributions for this year surpassed one milliondollars in scholarship aid delivered to students.
Middle school students at San Miguel School of Washington DC learn about nature on a field trip.
The Lasallian mission states that they will, “Provide a human and Christian education to the young, especially the poor.”The schools of this District do an amazing job of providinga human and Christian education. Thinking of the phrase ‘especially the poor’ and with great foresight, twenty yearsago, the Brothers began The Fund. They realized that our schools—especially those that serve urban areas and populations most in need of financial support—could face difficulty meeting the economic burdens of ensuring that deserving students were able to receive a Lasallian education.
Especially in uncertain economic times, schools are challengedto balance tuition costs, while staying true to the Lasalliancharism. While our ministries do everything they can to keep a quality Lasallian Catholic education in reach for the families they serve, it has become increasingly necessary to provide funds fortuition assistance. The St. John Baptist de La Salle Fund steps in when the results of those efforts are exhausted.\
“The Brothers share a future-view of ensuring that our Lasallian values and mission will continue and thrive in our ministries for many years to come,” said Br. Frank Byrne, FSC, Auxiliary Visitor of the District of Eastern North America.“Being of service to the poor is one of the core tenets of our life as a Lasallian. Therefore, in addition to training all of our young brothers, teachers, administrators, and Boards about the ways ofSaint La Salle, we established this fund twenty years ago to help ensure that a Lasallian education will be available to those who desire it, regardless of their financial ability.”
Excited seniors at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Brooklyn NY take selfies while wearing colors from colleges they will be attending.
He continued, “We sincerely and emphatically thank all of you who have brought The Fund to this point. Hundreds of students each year are receiving a Lasallian education due to your efforts. We must not stop here, however. There are so many more students whose lives could be changed forever, if we continue to grow this fund.”
This financial assistance for those most in need can truly be a life-changing (and sometimes a life-saving) experience. Many of the students who are able to attend one of our Lasallian schools through the Saint John Baptist de LaSalle Fund come from areas where violence and drugs rule the streets—where the public-school graduation rates are 50 to 70 percent, compared to 98 to 100percent at our schools.
“The Saint John Baptist de La SalleFund provides an incredible relief to the tuition burden,” says Br. Dennis Cronin, FSC, President of Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Brooklyn NY. “We are an urban school that serves many students from severely economically depressed here without some scholarship support. We are so grateful to the Brothers, and to everyone in the Lasallian family who supports the fund.”
In each issue of Lasallian Notes, our feature “Face of the Fund” presents one of the inspirational stories of our students whose lives have been changed by the Saint John Baptist de La Salle Fund. In this issue, you can read about Dana, and how she has flourished and grown at Bishop Loughlin.
You can help make a Lasallian education even more accessible to hundreds of students each year just like Dana. To join the Brothers in this life-changing mission, just mark the “De La Salle ScholarshipFund” box when you return the gift envelope in this newsletter. To set up a recurring gift, or to include The Fund in your will or estate plans, please contact Patrick Donahue in our development office at donahue@fscdena.org or (732) 380-7926.
Please know that your gift can change our students’ lives and help them to achieve a lifetime of returns on your investment!
Saint Raphael Academy seniors wear graduation caps & gowns during their Baccalaureate Mass.