Read about our donors and the impact they are having on our community.
In 2021, the Catholic Foundation initiated its Catholic Social Ministry Grant opportunity to support ministries and projects that embrace and align with Catholic social teaching and are answering the Gospel call to respond to needs within the community. One such ministry is Catholic Charities Counseling and Adoption Services (CCCAS).
When John “Jack” Potosnak reflects on his mother’s life story, he has immense gratitude for the Catholic ministries that shaped and guided her through difficult early years. To honor that support, and to help fuel a strong Catholic community for the future, Jack established the Helen Potosnak Memorial Endowment in the Catholic Foundation.
Catholic schools pursuing technology upgrades were grateful recipients of $56,200 in grants from the Catholic Foundation. These grants from the Education Endowment made a significant impact on Catholic schools in 2021 as demand for upgraded technology in classrooms and urgent remote learning needs were fueled by the pandemic.
Immaculate Conception Parish in Clarion is dedicated to providing opportunities to carry out their mission of “Inviting People to Christ, Uniting People with Christ, Igniting People for Christ”. Knowing that many of their parishioners could not attend Mass in person for a variety of reasons, they seized the opportunity to apply for a Catholic Foundation Education grant.
Saint Michael Parish in Greenville is known for providing life-long faith formation activities to the rural community it serves. Finding a way to keep in touch with a parish of over 1,250 families and provide Catholic faith resources to groups all at different stages of their faith life was challenging. A Catholic Foundation 2019 Education Grant enabled the purchase of a subscription to Flocknote/Word on Fire ENGAGE, an online communication and faith formation resource. Little did they know what a blessing it would become.
When Michele Smith, religious education leader at Saint Callistus Parish in Kane applied for a Faith Formation grant with the Catholic Foundation of Northwest Pennsylvania in 2019, she never imagined that a global pandemic would alter her plans for implementing a parish-wide faith-formation plan. With the GIFT program already on her radar, Michele decided to adapt it for use with her elementary religious education students.
Faced with limited resources to lead thirty diverse schools that educate over 5,000 students, as Superintendent of Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Erie, Jim Gallagher has an important job at a critical time for Catholic education. Today one of his key supporters is someone he’s never met.
Last year $55,000 was distributed from the Catholic Foundation’s education endowment to augment the Bishop’s Tuition Assistance Program which helps ensure Catholic education remains affordable for families.
John Brady's involvement and faithful service over the years at Saint Thomas Parish in Corry was rewarded with a scholarship from the Saint Thomas the Apostle Parish Memorial Scholarship Endowment fund held at the Catholic Foundation.