Read about our donors and the impact they are having on our community.
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.
John and Rose DeMarco are surely smiling from heaven as their son, Dale, says that everything about him was passed to him by his parents. The DeMarcos were faith-filled and practical people. Dale’s father was a full-time, blue-collar worker and his mother worked part-time when she wasn’t busy looking after her two sons.
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.
Admiration for Monsignor James "Fr. Pete" Peterson and Bishop Lawrence Persico inspire gifts to the endowments bearing their names and supporting causes important to them.
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.
Jim and Mary Margaret Malue were inspired to give by faith, community and friendship built throughout the years. Seeding a new endowment, and giving to help build another, fulfills their desire to give back.
Mary McCarthy shared her earthly blessings the same way she lived her life -- in faith, with purpose, and making impact. Later in life as she planned her legacy, she described faith as a spark that lights the way for people to look beyond themselves. Today, years after her death, Mary's endowments continue to light the way for the Catholic ministries that meant the most to her.
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.