by Vince Anch
On Oct. 10, the Catholic Education Foundation (CEF) will host its annual Gaudeamus (“Let us rejoice”) gala at the Overland Park Convention Center. This year’s event will be highlighted by CEF’s Lifetime Achievement Award, which will honor Peter and Veronica Mallouk.
The Mallouks are some of the most generous people in the community, often volunteering at several area nonprofit organizations and funding several others.
Both Peter and Veronica are products of Catholic education as are their three children. They believe in the impact that Catholic education has on our youth both academically and spiritually. They also understand that supporting CEF is very important because the organization makes it possible for several children to attend Catholic schools despite their financial means.
The Catholic Education Foundation has more than 1,900 children in need of scholarships in order to continue their Catholic education. This is the highest number of students who received CEF scholarships in a previous year and are returning for another year of school. All are enrolled while CEF raises funds for their scholarships.
In addition, nearly 300 children who were on a waiting list over the summer have been enrolled in archdiocesan Catholic schools and are in need of CEF scholarships. These children are attending Catholic schools for the very first time. Most are in kindergarten, first or second grade. Each of the 1,900 and 300 children come from low-income households and qualify for federal assistance like the National School Lunch Program, which offers free and reduced cost lunches.
Like the Mallouks, CEF believes that Catholic education should not be limited to children from wealthy families. The organization provided more than $5.5 million in scholarships last school year. With the increased demand and growing costs to educate, more than $6.2 million will be needed to meet this year’s demand.
CEF has never turned away a child. In fact, once CEF awards a scholarship to a child, it commits to supporting that child from grades K-12.
Gaudeamus is CEF’s single largest source of income. Each year, the event raises approximately 80% of the money needed to fund its traditional scholarships for the whole school year. The budget for this year’s event is $5 million, but the goal is $5.5 million. CEF always works towards hitting its “stretch” goal, which is $6 million.
Individuals, families and businesses are encouraged to purchase tickets, sponsor a table or give at a sponsorship level. This can be done by visiting the gala’s website at: cefgala.org.
Children from low-income families are 4.7 times more likely to drop out of school than other children. However, CEF students have been graduating at a 100% rate over the past three years. More than 90% of CEF students continue their education after high school by attending college or a technical school.
CEF scholarships change the lives of our children. Many are the first to attend a Catholic school, and many will also be the first to attend college.
But the most important mission that CEF has isn’t getting children to college. It’s getting them to heaven. While the costs to educate continue to rise, getting children to heaven is priceless and so are the Gaudeamus honorees, Peter and Veronica Mallouk.
