CV NEWS FEED // An Indiana-based family foundation is donating $150 million to a fund that supports Catholic schools in the Diocese of Gary, Indiana.
Our Sunday Visitor News (OSV News) reported that the Dean and Barbara White Family Foundation’s donation to the Big Shoulders Fund was called “the largest single investment” in pre-kindergarten to 12th grade Catholic education in history.
OSV News also reported that the Foundation’s executive director, William Hanna, said the donation will be made over the next 10 years to create the “highest performing network of Catholic schools in the United States.”
Hanna added that one of the Foundation’s goals is to strengthen neighborhoods, something he says Catholic schools contribute to.
“The Catholic educational institutions throughout all urban areas in the United States are a critical component of neighborhood stabilization (and) economic development in addition to education,” he told OSV News.
Bishop Robert J. McClory of Gary told OSV News that the donation is “extraordinary.”
“One could live their whole lives—and certainly their whole episcopacy—and never be able to make an announcement as significant as this,” he said, according to OSV News. “This is a sign of hope and confidence in our Catholic schools, and a time to rejoice and look to the future.”
According to the Foundation’s website, the fund financially supports community projects and initiatives that cultivate “a strong quality of life” in the state, carrying on the values and philanthropic legacies of Dean and Barbara White.
OSV News reported that the Foundation has been a long-time supporter of the Big Shoulders Fund, and invests over $40 million each year into Chicago Catholic schools, directly managing 38 of them. While the Foundation itself is not Catholic-affiliated, several trustees—including Dean and Barbara’s daughter-in-law, Beth—are Catholic.
“[E]ven those associated with the foundation that are not Catholic in background still value what Catholic education brings,” Hanna told OSV News.
Thanks to an expansion of Indiana’s schools choice scholarship program last year, the funds from the Foundation will help “improve and expand” the Catholic schools in the Diocese of Gary, according to Bishop McClory.
“That combination of both a strong history of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Gary, an infusion of support from community and civic-minded leaders, as well as the opening up of funds for our families through the choice scholarship really makes this a very unique opportunity for us,” he told OSV News.
He added:
What we are celebrating is so impactful because we hope that not only will it be a blessing here, but … that it might inspire others throughout the country to say, “This might be an opportunity for us to reflect on how we can support our Catholic schools.”
According to a news release from the Big Shoulders Fund, the donation was also praised by Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb.
“Receiving a great education is the surest long-term way to lift up society one student at a time,” Holcomb said, according to the news release. “I am so encouraged by this vote of confidence in Indiana education and am beyond thankful for this life changing investment.”
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