Red and green brought in silver after three Ontario secondary schools joined forces to raise money for CCSTA’s Endowment Fund initiative, Toonies for Tuition.
On the Friday before the Christmas break, students from Guelph, Ont.-area schools, St. James, Our Lady of Lourdes and Bishop MacDonnell, were permitted to dress down in red and green. In support of the Toonies for Tuition program, the fundraising organizers asked that each participating student donate $2.
“The majority of these students got into the Christmas spirit and opted to donate $2 for charity,” explains CCSTA Ontario Director, Marino Gazzalo.
The end result saw $1,500 directed to the Toonies for Tuition fund.
Though Ontario Catholic schools are fully funded, many provincial governments only partially cover tuition costs, or worse, not at all.
This lack of funding leaves a number of Canadian families to either pay for tuition or not enroll their children into Catholic schools.
To alleviate these costs, CCSTA set up an endowment fund, supplying some Canadian families with tuition funding.
The Toonies for Tuition fund is a fundraising initiative to support the endowment fund, ultimately expanding CCSTA’s reach.
“We’re so proud of these three schools because they can see outside the box,” says Gazzalo. “Though their school tuition is covered, they understand the value of receiving their education in a Catholic school setting and want their fellow Canadian students to have that same opportunity.”
Gazzola accepted the cheque from St. James Catholic High School Principal Tim Yawny in early February, 2012.
Unfortunately, the funding needs outweighs the dollars available. In 2011, CCSTA provided funding to 12 of the 40 endowment fund applications, totaling $30,000.
“We were so happy to provide these opportunities to families who needed that funding,” says CCSTA President Paula Peroni. “We still have a long way to go to ensure that every Canadian student who wants to attend a Catholic school can do just that.”
Peroni adds that it’s the initiatives such as the one organized by these Ontario secondary schools that help meet CCSTA’s goal.
“Dollar by dollar, we’re reaching out to our nation, and we are thrilled to see these Ontario schools put their values and beliefs into practice.”
Learn more about Toonies for Tuition >>
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