December 4, 2017 // Diocese

Bishop D’Arcy Catholic Education Jubilee Fund awards tuition assistance

Todays Catholic

FORT WAYNE — Catholic elementary schools in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend are being awarded tuition assistance of $500 per student, for a total of 28 students, for the school year 2017-18, from the Bishop D’Arcy Catholic Education Jubilee Fund. Seven recipients are from Fort Wayne-area elementary schools and seven are from South Bend-area schools.

The Bishop D’Arcy Catholic Education Jubilee Fund is a restricted endowment fund within the Catholic Community Foundation of Northeast Indiana. Bishop John M. D’Arcy established the fund in 2007 with gifts from the 50th anniversary of his priesthood, from memorials of his late sister, Mary Caprio, and from other special donations. The purpose of the fund is to grant tuition assistance to Catholic students in Catholic elementary schools in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.

Schools that have one or more students receiving an award for school year 2017-18 are as follows.

• Fort Wayne area: Our Lady of Good Hope, Fort Wayne; St. Aloysius, Yoder; St. John the Baptist, Fort Wayne; St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Fort Wayne; St. John the Baptist, New Haven; Queen of Angels, Fort Wayne; and St. Joseph – Hessen Cassel, Fort Wayne.

• South Bend area: St. Vincent de Paul, Elkhart; St. Matthew Cathedral, South Bend; St. Anthony de Padua, South Bend; St. Jude, South Bend; St. John the Baptist, South Bend; Mishawaka Catholic, Mishawaka; and Holy Cross, South Bend.

The fund makes distributions each year based on an annual payout of 6 percent of the value of the fund on June 30. Recipients are awarded financial assistance based on need by a committee that consists of Deacon James Fitzpatrick, Chief Financial Officer Joseph Ryan and Superintendent of Catholic Schools Marsha Jordan.

Bishop D’Arcy celebrated 50 years as a priest on Feb. 2, 2007. He contributed gifts that he received from the golden jubilee of his priesthood to create the Bishop D’Arcy Catholic Education Jubilee Fund. In addition, when his sister died in September 2007, Bishop D’Arcy requested that memorials be given to this fund. Moreover, a special gift from a family foundation was contributed to the Bishop D’Arcy Catholic Education Jubilee Fund in May 2008. The total value of the fund was approximately $271,479 as of August 2017.

The committee sent letters and tuition assistance application forms to principals and pastors of all Catholic elementary schools in the diocese, inviting them to recommend a student from the school who qualified for tuition assistance based on financial need. Also, the committee requested a written essay of not more than 100 words from each student who applied, titled “Why Catholic Education is Important to Me.”

For each student who is granted an award, it is for one time and is nonrenewable.

Those who would like to make a current gift of cash or stock or a planned gift such as a will bequest to the Bishop D’Arcy Catholic Education Jubilee Fund, may contact Joe Ryan at 260-422-4611or [email protected].