PROVIDENCE — In the first two years of its annual Lumen Gentium awards banquet, the diocese has raised about $125,000, which it has donated to assist ministries that serve those in need across the state.
In 2013, the banquet, which honored those who “toil in the vineyard of the Lord,” through the good works they do in their parishes or communities, raised $50,000. The proceeds were used to benefit Emmanuel House, a homeless shelter operated by the diocese in the former Carter Day Care Center on Public Street. The funds allowed the shelter to remain open through the summer, at a time when other seasonal shelters were closing.
Last year, the dinner raised about $75,000, with the proceeds donated to 75 food pantries, soup kitchens and nutritional programs serving those in need across the diocese.
The proceeds from this year’s Lumen Gentium awards banquet, at which individuals and groups will be honored in 10 categories on May 20 at Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, will be used to help make a Catholic education more affordable for students whose families face financial challenges.
“We are very excited that Bishop Tobin decided this year’s proceeds will go to support Catholic education. Honestly, the need has never been greater,” said diocesan Superintendent of Schools Daniel J. Ferris.
“This is a gift that will strengthen families, form our youth in the faith and build the church now and in the future.”
The superintendent noted that the real calculated tuition need of families sending their sons or daughters to Catholic schools in the diocese is nearly $23 million, and that while even $75,000 might seem a long way from meeting the overall need of families, it will make a difference in the lives of many students.
A donation from the event of $75,000 could help to make a Catholic education possible for as many as 20 to 25 families that could otherwise only dream of providing a faith-based education for their children.
“This is truly life changing – small in comparison to total need but huge in impact!” Ferris said.
Edward J. Bastia, business administrator for the Catholic Schools Office, said that over the last 10 years, the quantified need in the Diocese of Providence for families sending their children to Catholic elementary and high schools has doubled.
Financial assistance for families attending Catholic elementary schools ranges from $1,000 to $3,000, he said, while secondary school awards range from $2,000 to $5,000.
Andrea H. Krupp, executive director of the Catholic Foundation of Rhode Island, which distributes some financial assistance to families of students attending Catholic schools in the diocese, and a member of the Lumen Gentium Committee, said the diocese is able to offer some tuition assistance for families in need, but the need far exceeds available resources.
And as costs associated with maintaining safe buildings, providing reasonable salaries for educators and staff, and acquiring and updating new technology have risen — with a corresponding drop in the amount of outside resources to rely on to help defray those needed expenses — schools have been forced over the last several years to raise their tuition as a result.
“These increases have made a Catholic school education simply out of reach for many families,” Krupp said. “At the very least, families who are able to send their children to Catholic schools make significant financial sacrifices to do so. By directing the proceeds from this year’s Lumen Gentium dinner to Catholic education, more children will be able to learn in Catholic school classrooms.”
Nominations for the Lumen Gentium Awards are open online through Monday, Feb. 9. Groups, organizations and individuals — laity, clergy and religious — are eligible to be nominated. Although it is expected that those who are nominated will come from within the Catholic community, other nominees will also be considered, provided that they and their work are consistent with the teachings and mission of the Catholic Church. The awards will be bestowed at a banquet on May 20 at Twin River Event Center in Lincoln.
A committee, under the leadership of Msgr. Albert A. Kenney, diocesan Vicar General/Moderator of the Curia, will review nominees received through an online process on the Diocese of Providence Web site at www.dioceseofprovidence.org/lumen-gentium-2015 Final recommendations for the award are submitted to Bishop Thomas J. Tobin for his approval.
