Last week, Thursday marked our
annual Giving Day for Saint Ignatius High School. It was a day we had been planning for since March 12, 2019. The date itself, March 12, has served as our annual Giving Day in celebration of the canonization of St. Ignatius Loyola.
But March 12 this year looked very different. As current events unfolded, we started this day of giving in a very uncertain time, as anxieties and questions arose almost by the hour.
Even throughout all of the uncertainty, our community showed up in impressive fashion. Not only did we achieve our goal, we exceeded our goal, with more than 1,000 people making a gift to the Annual Fund within a 24-hour period of time.
The support we received is a true testament to our school community & our mission. All of the funds raised through our Giving Day efforts, which totaled more than $240,000, go towards the Annual Fund. The
Annual Fund allows us to offer tuition assistance to more than half of our families – a need that remains especially critical as we navigate these current events.
All gifts received were essential to its success. Anonymous donors offered gifts of $25,000 and $50,000 as matching gift incentives as we reached milestones throughout the day and Sheila & Scott Kalish '85 offered a $25,000 matching gift that was unlocked when we reached 800 donors. That happened before 7 p.m.
Alumni including
John Fanta ’13,
Derek Dietrich ’07, and
Andrew Horansky ’94 participated in the day by sharing stories and videos of support. Various prizes were awarded at special hours during the day some of which included tickets to the 36th Annual Saint Ignatius High School Christmas Concert, custom designed t-shirts by GV Art + Design, Saint Ignatius shamrock baseball caps and other gear. All these efforts are designed to allow more opportunities to share our Wildcat pride within our community and with our greater networks. What a proud community we have.
Our strength at Saint Ignatius comes from the support of our alumni, parents current and past, faculty and staff, friends and students – not just on Giving Day but all year round. The final moment of this year’s Giving Day had Cleveland lit in blue and gold as the Terminal Tower donned our school colors – a symbol of comfort and pride. Seeing our community come together despite all of the unknowns was encouraging and inspiring for our entire community. On behalf of everyone at Saint Ignatius High School, thank you and know that you are in our prayers today and every day.