George Vincent, managing partner and chairman of Dinsmore, just led a team that raised $2.9 million for eight inner-city Catholic schools.
Three things about that are notable.
- First, the total amount raised for the Catholic Inner-city Schools Education Fund well exceeds the original $2.65 million goal.
- Second, George Vincent, as the organization notes, is not Catholic.
- Third, nearly 78 percent of the 1,800 students who attend those schools aren’t Catholic either – and 90 percent of them live in poverty.
Vincent sees the benefit to the community of providing a Catholic school education option.
“The CISE schools provide three things: an unbelievable education, inculcated values with high expectations and saving faith. What more could you ask for?” Vincent said.
“We are blessed in Cincinnati to have Catholic schools that stay in our inner-city communities and still care.”
Vincent was supported in the fundraising endeavor by a team of CISE board members and volunteers. James B. “Rick” Reynolds and Jim Hagerty, investment advisors for Bartlett, co-chaired the major gifts committee. The Young Executive team of volunteers was led by Andrew Williamson, assistant vice president, private banker, The Private Client Reserve of U.S. Bank, and Alex Kummer, senior accountant at Clark Schaefer, Hackett & Co.
The campaign team was honored at a reception at the University Club of Cincinnati.
Among guests were three students from St. Francis Seraph and St. Joseph schools who addressed the crowd, expressing their appreciation and sharing their plans for the future. Laurence Christian, an eighth-grader at St. Joseph, was there with his mother. He told the crowd of CISE supporters:
“My mother has always taught me to be respectful, but St. Joseph made sure I practiced it!”
He urged the crowd to remember that their financial was not their only contribution. “You provide so much more than that. You’ve provided me with a safe place to learn, I’m a little closer to God, I was surrounded by people who love and care about me, but most of all I plan to be just like YOU! I will pay it forward.
The CISE campaign benefits students at St. Joseph, St. Boniface, St. Francis Seraph, Holy Family, St. Lawrence, Resurrection, Corryville Catholic and St. Francis de Sales.
In addition, about 200 CISE elementary school graduates attend Catholic high schools with support from the CISE High School Grant Program.
Information: cisefund.org or 421-3131 x2751