Archdiocese of Boston Catholic Elementary Schools Join the Catholic Alumni Partnership
Boston, MA (July 19, 2010) – The Catholic Schools Foundation (CSF) recently awarded grants to 49 elementary schools in the Archdiocese of Boston enabling them to participate in the Catholic Alumni Partnership (CAP). With the expansion of the CAP program to the Archdiocese of Boston, CSF is leading the way for national growth of the original Pilot program that was begun in seven dioceses in New York and Connecticut.
The Catholic Alumni Partnership (CAP) is a groundbreaking initiative that is currently helping to create sustainable fundraising programs in 303 Catholic elementary schools in New York and Connecticut. While there is a strong tradition of alumni support at the college and high school levels, resource constraints have prevented many Catholic elementary schools from conducting effective alumni outreach. “Catholic elementary education has played and continues to play a vital role in the education system especially for low-income and less resourced students and families.” says Mike Reardon, Executive Director of the Catholic Foundation. “CAP will reconnect the tens of thousands of students who benefited from these superb schools in years past with the students today and in doing so secure the future of Catholic elementary education for generations to come.”
The campaign is strongly anchored in social media, built around the CAP website, www.ClickYes.com. The site features a video appeal from Catholic Schools Alumnus Regis Philbin, urging alumni to come together to help assure a strong future for Catholic schools. As Regis puts it, “we need to take some action now to keep Catholic education strong and alive in America.” Since the inception of the partnership in November 2009, thousands of alumni have signed on, raising nearly $1,000,000 for participating schools. The project has also connected these generous former students through the school Facebook pages that CAP has helped create. “The best and greatest teachers I have ever had or have known were from the elementary schools that I attended,” reads one post from a New York alumnus.
“The three girls who walked to St. Teresa’s school with me…are still my dearest friends to this day,” reads another memory penned to CAP’s Facebook wall. Mike Reardon noted that, “Generations of people benefitted from Catholic Schools thanks to the commitment and sacrifice of the sisters and parishes. Today with fewer sisters and parishes unable to fully fund schools, CAP is an opportunity for those who benefited to reconnect and make a difference.”
For more information on the Catholic Alumni Partnership, visit www.ClickYes.com.
The Catholic Schools Foundation, Inc. (CSF) supports the educational mission of the Church while helping to provide programs and services that insure optimal educational opportunities for all students regardless of race, religion, national origin, or gender attending Roman Catholic primary and secondary schools located in the Archdiocese of Boston.