Apart from each other and family, two local parishioners in Delaware have three commitments: faith, community and Catholic education. So deep is their commitment to Catholic schools that they feel motivated to help make a Catholic education attainable to those who would otherwise not be able to afford it.
The couple, who wanted their names withheld for privacy, became the first donors to set up a charitable gift annuity with the Diocese of Wilmington in partnership with the National Catholic Community Foundation to preserve and grow Catholic education. The tax-deductible gift will also ensure that they receive guaranteed income during their retirement years with a legacy giving vehicle that allows them to support their cherished cause.
“We are so grateful to be able to give to the families who can’t provide their children with a Catholic education.”
The couple arrived at their appreciation of Catholic education in vastly different ways. The wife received her primary education in Catholic schools both here and abroad. She looks back at the experience as one of both academic and personal growth.
“I received a quality education,” she said. “We were taught things that weren’t being taught anywhere else at the time,” including the lives of the saints.
She also remembers the life skills she was taught, like how to present oneself with dignity and refinement. “My high-school classmates (in public school) were amazed when I stood up to answer a question in class,” she said. “I didn’t think twice about it. It was something we did all through Catholic grade school.”
The husband, on the other hand, experienced Catholic education vicariously through his wife and three children. He attended public school after his application for admission to his parish elementary school was rejected.
He did not begin to explore his Catholic faith seriously until college, when his university required English majors to take a course in the King James Bible. He tried to test out of the course but failed.
“It was best test I ever failed,” he said. “I thought I knew great literature and wise thinkers, but the words of Christ in red letters just blew me away. This was something on a totally different level.”
That experience led to a lifelong commitment to the church and to the conviction that his own children should have a Catholic education.
“I wanted our faith to be an integral part of their lives, not just something to do on Sunday,” he said. “For me, as a dad, that was my primary motivation.”
His wife still sees Catholic values of empathy and service to others at work in her parish elementary school.
He believes Catholic education has given his children a sensitivity and respect for others who are not part of their social circles. He also admires the camaraderie and brotherhood he has learned of from Salesianum School alumni.
He believes supporting Catholic education is even more important given the increasing secularization of our society.
“There are a lot of headwinds that we face, so it’s important to strengthen the faith of our children. I can’t see things changing in the near future. We may well be a smaller church, but we can be a stronger church.”
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