By Margarita Mendoza and Penny Wiegert
The Observer

ROCKFORD—The sweets of Halloween and the blessings of Thanksgiving came combined and early to St. Edward School, here, Oct. 28.

The sweet blessing of $29,487 was distributed from the Diocese of Rockford Office of Stewardship Development to the school during a morning assembly attended by diocesan officials and lots of thankful students.

Making the check presentation were Bishop David Malloy; Michael Kagan, diocesan superintendent of Catholic schools, Msgr. Glenn Nelson, Moderator of the Curia and Vicar General; and, Sara Marquetti, assistant director of Stewardship Development.

They gathered with children from the school and Father William Vallejo, pastor of St. Edward Parish and Corine Gendron, principal of St. Edward School, who accepted the gift made possible by a new diocesan option in the three combined appeals taken up annually by the Rockford Diocese.

The option for Catholic Elementary School Financial Support for the Diocese of Rockford was added to the National, International and Mission Appeals this year and the check to St. Edward School was the “first fruit” of donor generosity to this donation option.

According to Marquetti, the purpose of the new option is “To ensure that we maintain the opportunity for parents to enroll their children in the excellent Catholic elementary schools within our diocese, we have created a special way for Catholics to assist the Diocese of Rockford in supporting schools that have operating deficits and need help to become financially viable and to continue to provide a quality education, and religious and moral formation in a world badly in need of Gospel values.”

At the check presentation, St. Edward School students presented Bishop Malloy with a spiritual bouquet as a thank you for the “big check.”

“We are absolutely thrilled,” said principal Gendron. “This is a great blessing from the Diocese to support Catholic Education and St. Eds. Some of the children come from low and middle income families; we can offer a Catholic education to those who are not able to afford. This is an amazing thing,” she said.

Although not specifically earmarked, Gendron said the money will be used to assist the school budget to maintain the quality of education, keep tuition low and help the school cover costs of special teachers in the areas of computer science and the arts.
“(This money) is a great blessing for our school so we can offer our services to the community here,” said Father Vallejo.

WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FINANCIAL SUPPORT OPTION ALL ABOUT?

Sara Marquetti, assistant director of the Office of Stewardship Development provides insight into the purpose and benefit of the new option to the combined appeals that was recently distributed to its first beneficiary—St. Edward School in Rockford

Q.  The Catholic Elementary School Financial Support option was added to the three combined appeals  (National, International and Mission) this year. Why?
 
A. To ensure that we maintain the opportunity for parents to enroll their children in the excellent Catholic elementary schools within our Diocese, we created this fund to support schools that have operating deficits and need help to become financially viable.   Your gift directly impacts the underprivileged schools in our Diocese providing a brighter future for children from disadvantaged and financially strapped communities.  
 
Q.  What has the response been to this portion of the collections?
 
A.  We are thankful for the generosity of the people who have contributed this year.  We have received more than $69,000 from the two collections in 2014, and hope that as people become more aware of this fund the contributions will increase so as to stabilize and support the growth our Catholic schools struggling with financial debt.
 
Q.  What has the largest contribution been?

A. To date, we have been blessed with our largest contribution of $2000 to the Catholic Elementary School Financial Support fund made by Michael and Mary LaLoggia.  Their dedication to growing our Catholic schools and parishes is demonstrated by their significant gift to this fund.  
 
Q.  How do you determine which school(s) will benefit from this fund?

A.  The Offices of Education, and Finance and Administration  have developed criteria to identify the neediest schools and the steps the schools must take to qualify.
 
Q.  How do these funds differ from those funds contributed years ago to the United in Faith funds to benefit Catholic Schools?

A. The 2000-2001 United in Faith campaign set up five endowments with two of them distributing funds to our Catholic schools.   The Catholic Education Endowment distributes funds to all schools on a per capita basis in order to enhance teacher salaries, curriculum development, tuition assistance and more.   The Assistance Fund for Needy Parishes and Schools Endowment awards qualified needy parishes and schools in the areas of tuition assistance, capital projects and debt relief.   While both of these funds help our schools, they do not adequately address the special needs of our underprivileged schools with significant operating debt.  This new Catholic Elementary School fund is to help these schools become financially stable.
 
 Q.  Will this option on the combined appeals be permanent?

A.  It is not our intention to have this be a permanent fund, but our hope is our Diocesan Catholic family will give generously to this in order to pass on the gift of faith and the tradition of an excellent Catholic education to more families.
 
Q.    What specifically do you want diocesan Catholics to know about this option?

A.  The Catholic Elementary School Financial Support funds stay in our Diocese and make a direct and important impact to those that need it the most.  This collection provides an opportunity for you to help build our Catholic Faith and make our schools and parishes stronger.
 
Over the last two centuries, our ancestors sacrificed to give us the parishes we now call home,  the schools and religious education programs that have nurtured us and the ministries that have changed and shaped who we are as Catholics today.  They are a great example of how we are to use the skills and talents God has given us; this is what it is to be a steward of God’s gifts.   They built the strong Catholic foundation and it is how we grew our faith then and how we will continue to grow.   But, we have an urgent need to help these underprivileged schools now.
 
By giving to the Catholic Elementary School fund you will be providing the strong foundation for our Catholic faith to grow today, tomorrow and in the future.   Your gift will allow more children to experience and benefit from our Catholic schools that integrate our faith into the entire life of the student (spiritual, intellectual, moral, and physical) as part of a lifelong journey with Jesus Christ. Please help us in supporting our Catholic faith and schools by prayerfully giving what you can to assist underprivileged Catholic schools in our Diocese.