Give a young person the gift of a Catholic education!
The Guardian Angel program seeks donors to help make it possible for deserving Catholic students to attend St. Michael school--to become, in effect, their "guardian angel." Donors may do so in one of two ways: Either by making a gift to the school's "Guardian Angel Scholarship Fund", or by helping share in a particular student's monthly tuition payments.
How did it the Guardian Angel program get started?
Two area pastors, Fr. Williams of St. Lawrence and Fr. O'Connor of Christ the King, approached the school principal, Faustin Weber. They had parishioners, they said, who'd be willing to contribute to a scholarship fund at St. Michael if the school had a fund exclusively for that purpose. They urged the principal to create the fund, so that there was money available for their parish families needing help beyond what the school could do.
About the same time, a gentleman from a local Catholic parish met with the principal, and said: "I was educated by the nuns in elementary school and by the brothers at McGill. I am so grateful for what they did for me, and I want to give back. I don't have the money to write you a big check, but I do have some extra monthly income to share. Pick out two students who need it--I don't want to know their names and I don't want them to know mine--and I'll send you a check for each one, if you promise to deposit it directly to their tuition accounts. "
Mr. Weber did so, and chose two students. He called the parents to tell them an anonymous "guardian angel" was going to help them with their child's monthly tuition. They responded with joy and tears of gratitude, as if a heavy burden had been lifted. "It was a very moving thing to speak with the recipients of this man's generosity, " says Weber, smiling. " It was a beautiful Catholic witness--families helping families--so much so that we wanted to propose this idea to others."
Weber continues: "So now we have two ways of helping our families: either by making a direct contribution to our Guardian Angel Scholarship Fund, or by becoming a monthly "Guardian Angel" for a particular student or prospective student needing help. I am excited about the prospects of both! May God bless these efforts on behalf of a lot of really good kids!"
How does the monthly support work? Very simply. The donor tells the school how much he or she might be able to assist with each month. A typical gift might be $200, $300 or $400/month (10 tuition payments for tithing Catholics would be $850/month). The school picks out a deserving student needing assistance at that approximate level and gives the donor the student's account # to place on his or her check to route directly to the student's tuition. 100% of the donor's gift thereby goes to the student's tuition.
Neither the donor nor the recipient knows the name of the other person. However, the school asks the recipient to write a letter of thanks to his or her anonymous angel, which the school then forwards to that person. In that way, the donor is assured his or her gift is going directly to a particular student in the school.
Who benefits? Grateful kids, chosen by the principal and finance office of the school. A sophomore girl said: "It's hard to come up with the right words to describe how thankful I am to my guardian angel, because without his or her help, I wouldn't be able to have such an amazing experience here at St. Michael."
How many students we can help depends on the # of guardian angels!
How does a student become a recipient of a Guardian Angel's support? First, a student must apply and get accepted to the school. Then, his or her parents must apply for financial assistance. The school will assist the family as best it can. If there are "guardian angels" available, the principal and staff of the school will match that child with his or her "angel" and thereby give him or her extra assistance. It is important to understand that no student attends St. Michael "for free." Families must be willing to sacrifice as much as they are able, even while the school and guardian angels will do what they can to help that family.
How can I become a Guardian Angel for a student? If you'd like to become a monthly guardian angel or talk more about it, call Jenny Kopf, our Director of Advancement, at 251-459-0210. Or, you can make a direct gift to "The Guardian Angel Scholarship Fund" by check (St. Michael Catholic High School, 11732 Higbee Road, Fairhope, AL 36532) or by contributing on-line (either monthly or one time) at the link to the left.
All gifts to the Guardian Angel program are tax deductible; acknowledgment of the gift is sent to the donor for his or her records.
