Devin Clement, a member of St. Joseph Parish in Shawnee, shows Lisa Blaes the artwork he won at the CEF Futures Art Event on Feb. 4. The art was done by a student at a CEF school. Leaven photo by Lori Wood Habiger
by Todd Habiger
todd.habiger@theleaven.org
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For the Catholic Education Foundation, it’s all about the future.
And thanks to the CEF Futures — a group of young professionals committed to promoting the mission of CEF — the future looks bright for another year.
On Feb. 4, the group hosted the CEF Futures Art Event at Boulevard Brewery in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised funds for 36 Guardian Angel Fund scholarships.
The fund provides emergency scholarships for students in CEF schools whose families are facing a short-term crisis.
The sold-out event featured donated works from professional artists that participants could bid on. But the highlight of the night belonged to the student-artists. Every work of art from these youngsters was put into a raffle. Winners could pick their favorite from the mix until all the pieces were gone.
CEF board member and Futures committee chair Stephanie Goodenow thought that the event was a huge success.
“Our planning committee did an amazing job of organizing the event,” she said. “Taylor Byrd and Sean Tokic organized the entertainment, including the acoustic guitarist and the photo booth. Matt Ledom and Jake Sorenson worked closely with the CEF office in securing underwriting sponsors and donations from Manny’s and Cakes by Aggie for the evening’s refreshments. Zach Dehaemers curated a terrific exhibit of local professional artists.”
Although she hoped everyone found the event fun, Goodenow said the real focus of the event was raising the money needed to fund those 36 scholarships.
“Catholic education is not only for the wealthy, but it is for everyone who desires Jesus,” she said. “Parents who choose Catholic education make sacrifices elsewhere so that their children can have Jesus infused in their education. For some parents, that choice is made more difficult by financial barriers. Supporting CEF schools is important for many reasons, but access to quality, Catholic-centered education — a Catholic ‘family’ — should be available to all, regardless of the economics.”
