As the year draws to a close, John Steffes, president of the Kuemper Catholic School System, says the fundraising campaign they launched earlier this year has far exceeded their initial expectations. In March, the Kuemper Catholic Schools Foundation kicked off Faith Forward in March with a goal of raising at least $6.5 million for the parochial school. Steffes says they are well beyond that goal now.
According to Steffes, Faith Forward is somewhat different from other recent fundraising campaigns, as a significant percentage of what has been raised comes from outside of the immediate area.
Initially, the Kuemper Foundation set $6.5 million as their “Celebration Goal,” and they are exceedingly close to their “Challenge Goal” of $9.5 million. Fundraisers have set a final “Victory Goal” of $12 million, and Steffes says there is still time to get involved.
If the Victory Goal is reached, approximately $5.1 million will be added to the school’s Teacher Salary Enhancement Fund to help Kuemper close the gap in pay between public and private school staff. About $5 million will be used to modernize and improve Kuemper facilities and the remaining $2 million to tuition assistance to help keep Catholic education affordable and accessible to all families. More information is available at www.kuemper.org/faithforward.
