December 2, 2014 // Local

Bishop D’Arcy Catholic Education Jubilee Fund awards tuition assistance to 13 elementary schools

Todays Catholic

FORT WAYNE — Thirteen Catholic elementary schools in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend including 20 students are being awarded tuition assistance of $500 per student for school year 2014-2015 from the Bishop D’Arcy Catholic Education Jubilee Fund. Seven are Fort Wayne area elementary schools and six are 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 a student receiving an award for the school year 2014-2015 are as follows:

• Fort Wayne area: Most Precious Blood (two students), Queen of Angels, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. John the Baptist, St. Joseph-Hessen Cassel and St. Therese (two students), all in Fort Wayne; and Huntington Catholic, Huntington.

• South Bend area: Corpus Christi, Holy Family (four students); Our Lady of Hungary, and St. Jude, all in South Bend; and St. Thomas the Apostle, Elkhart, and St. Vincent de Paul, Elkhart (three students).

The fund makes distributions each year based on an annual payout of 6 percent of the value of the fund at June 30. Recipients are awarded financial assistance based on need by a committee that consists of Daniel Fitzpatrick, Deacon James Fitzpatrick, Joseph Ryan, diocesan CFO, 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, Mary Caprio, 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 $133,622 as of June 30, 2014.

The committee sent letters and tuition assistance application forms in August 2014 to principals and pastors of all Catholic elementary schools in the diocese, inviting them to recommend one student who qualified for tuition assistance based on financial need from the school. Also, the committee requested a written essay, not more than 100 words, from each student who applied, titled, “Why Catholic Education Is Important to Me.”

Each award granted to a student 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 Julie Kenny, director of Planned Giving at 260-969-9148 or [email protected].