Denver Catholic schools beat the odds makers and safely and successfully opened all 34 Kindergarten through 8th grade schools for in-person learning this fall.
Seeds of Hope, which funds Catholic education for families in need, wants to try and beat the odds again. The COVID-19 pandemic prevented Seeds of Hope from hosting its largest fundraiser of the year this month — the Evening of Hope gala — but that won’t stop them from trying to raise the $650,000 anyway.
“Our Evening of Hope gala usually provides enough tuition assistance for 300 students,” said Jay Clark, Executive Director of Seeds of Hope. “Those students still need to have their education funded this year.”
Seeds of Hope has been instrumental in providing Catholic school tuition for families like the Williams family.* Anthony and his wife lost their jobs and weren’t sure if their four children could continue their Catholic education until their school principal contacted Seeds of Hope for help.
Seeds of Hope received a record high of nearly 1,700 applications this year for Catholic school tuition assistance and it was only able to fund 900 students. The number of applications is likely to rise during these difficult economic times, Clark said.
“The decision to adjust our biggest 400-person fundraising event of the year was distressing,” he said. “But we are hopeful donors will understand our schools are doing great and the need for assistance is growing. We pray families who care about Catholic education will still step up and donate.
“Enrollment at Denver Catholic schools is stable and trending higher than most Catholic schools nationwide. Our goal at Seeds of Hope is to be there for every family who is turning to us with faith to ensure their child continues to receive a strong faith formation and stellar Catholic education,” Clark added.
Anthony Williams is grateful Seeds of Hope was there when he needed help providing a Catholic education for his kids.
“Catholic school has been a valuable part of our family and Seeds of Hope was a gift when we really needed it,” Anthony said.
Please consider giving the gift of Catholic education to a family in need at seedsofhopedenver.org.
* Names changed to protect privacy