For more than 130 years Saint Matthew’s Church has supported a school where children have been given a quality, Christian Catholic education.
Until 2012 that school was on the parish campus. For the last seven years the school has been part of a consolidation as Community of Saints. That school recently has been able to purchase the land that was formerly Saint Michael’s parish. One of the best outcomes of that event was the ‘guarantee’ that Community of Saints will be around for many years to come; parents can confidently choose COS and know that their children will graduate after pre school, kindergarten, and 8 years of parochial education.
There are children and families of many different ethnicities; there are children and families from all levels of household incomes (90% of the children need financial assistance). Each of these families desires education in a small, parochial school where they can excel.
Some parishioners support COS through their donations in the monthly 2nd collection – like this weekend; some parishioners support COS with an electronic debit weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly. There are also some parishioners who have made donations that will continue to fund COS long into the future.
One of those people was a graduate of Saint Matthew’s from 1939, Vivian Byers. About ten years ago, she set up an endowment valued at $1M each for Saint Matthew and for Saint Francis de Sales (across the river). The Catholic Community Foundation issues a payment from those endowments (somewhat less than the interest earned) each year. Last week there was a check for $43,800 for Community of Saints School from the Saint Matthew endowment. (The language says: it is for the parish for education purposes, as long as the parish operates a school.)
There was a second check for $43,800 for Community of Saints School from the Saint Francis de Sales endowment through Saint Matthew’s (because that parish no longer operates a school).
Community of Saints is blessed with this income for their annual budget; it is important that all parishioners at Saint Matthew’s continue to support COS – OUR SCHOOL. This example is an invitation for others to make a similar gift (regardless of the amount) to help ensure a quality Catholic education for any child and family who has that desire.
If you have questions or would like more information, please contact me at the parish office, or Doug Lieser, the director of development and advancement at COS.
John Riehle
Please visit communityofsaints.org
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