The Feb. 6 Catholic education lunch raised $183,000 to support students attending local Catholic elementary and high schools. That’s a 63 percent increase over last year’s proceeds.
Nancy Gugino, director of the Foundation of the Roman Catholic Diocesan of Buffalo which sponsored the event, expected no more than a typical 10 percent increase over the previous year. Due to the diocese’s Chapter 11 status, she would be satisfied with meeting last year’s goal.
“To see a 63 percent increase over goal was really tremendous,” she said. “I attribute that to the refreshment of the committees. We got some dynamic new people involved and new pre-event events took place. It was just tremendous and created such an energy.”
The bulk of the money goes to the BISON Children’s Scholarship Fund. The Foundation has committed $575,000 this year, which will be used to help families in need send their children to a Catholic elementary school or a Catholic high school through scholarships.
“That’s their commitment to us. So, we work all year-round raising money for them, then they help the families most in need,” Gugino explained.
The Foundation also oversees two accounts it allocates to families – the Emergency Assistance Fund and the newly created Catholic Family Fund, started with a $15,000 donation.
The Emergency Assistance Fund is for families that have an emergent need. Gugino gets calls from families that have suffered a death, illness or loss of a job, and can no longer pay for Catholic School tuition.
“We can go to that Emergency Tuition Assistance Fund and say, ‘How much do you need to get you through?’ And we can support them from that fund,” Gugino said.
The Catholic Family Fund is for families that don’t have an emergent need, but are having an increasingly difficult time affording tuition, but still want to give their children a strong, faith-based education.
“We do it on a prioritized basis. We have an application like BISON. We look at the financials in the family, and see who needs it most,” Gugino said.
Gugino recalled hearing from a woman who is raising a grandchild, after the child just lost both her parents. The woman thought a Catholic education was needed at that point to provide a sense of family to her granddaughter. Gugino said those calls are becoming more frequent.
Plans for next year include a return to the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center for an evening gala. The Covid pandemic forced the event to shift first to a remote event, then a televised event, and for the past two years, an afternoon lunch.
“One of my goals this year is to visit every school in the diocese,” Gugino said. “They’re all telling me that we want to be there, but we can’t because it’s at lunchtime and the students are there. If you go back to an evening event, we can all be there.”