Fall 2005 - St. Charles Preparatory School

Development Update
Annual Fund Sets Goal
Douglas H. Stein ’78
A challenging goal
of $475,000 has
been set for the
2005-2006 St.
Charles Annual
Fund. This includes
efforts to raise
$325,000 from
alumni and
$150,000 from
parents of current
students according
to principal
Dominic J. Cavello. The appeal runs
thorugh June 30, 2006.
A total of $567,983, a record, was
raised last year from all sources—alumni,
parents of St. Charles students, parents of
alumni, grandparents, and long-time
friends of the school.
The alumni segment of this year’s
Annual Fund again
will be chaired by
1979 alumnus
David L.
Pemberton Jr., a
member. of the
school’s Advisory
Board and Development
Committee.
Under Pemberton’s
leadership last year,
the alumni appeal
Dave Pemberton Jr. ’79
raised an all-time
high for gift receipts
to an annual fund in a one-year period of
$375,100. Pemberton, who is president and
chief operating officer of Suburban Natural
Gas in Lewis Center, Oh., is also the
parent of a St. Charles alumnus, Joe
Pemberton, a member of the class of 2000.
Leading this year’s Parents Fund are
co-chairs Dr. George and Terri
Lewandowski, parents of a current
senior, Christopher, and a 2003 St. Charles
alumnus, Michael. Dr. Lewandowski, is a
Terri and Dr. George Lewandowski
surgical oncologist with Gynecologic
Oncology and Pelvic Surgery Associates in
Columbus. Terri is a technical editor for
the American Chemical Society and Chemical
Abstracts. She and her husband are
members of Immaculate Conception Parish
and have served previously as Parents
Fund class captains.
Joining the Lewandowskies are four
parent class captains: Mike and Anita
Hessenauer, senior class captains; Mike
and Ann Stromberg, junior class captains;
Mike and Renee Sherman,
sophomore class captains; and Bob and
Suzanne Meyers, freshman class captains.
Cavello said last year’s Parents
Annual Fund responded with a recordhigh
gift total of $192,000 used to initiate
the all-school HVAC project. This year’s
goal of $150,000 will complete the entire
project, which includes new furnaces on
every floor of the main building, a new
air-conditioning system for the entire
main building, and new ductwork throughout
the school. The school’s old steam
boilers were dismantled and scrapped last
summer as part of the demolition of the
old powerhouse to make way for the new
Student Services and Fine Arts Center.
“The Parents Fund is an important
tradition that provides St. Charles with
funding for renovations and important
upgrades that enhance a comfortable
learning environment for our students,”
Cavello said. “Our building turned 80 years
old this September and is in remarkable
condition,” he said. “The parents of our
students have helped keep it that way.”
The Alumni Annual Fund proceeds
traditionally support need-based tuition
assistance, Pemberton said.
“One hundred percent of each gift to
the Alumni Annual Fund is designated
toward the school’s student financial aid
program,” he said. In most cases, our
graduating classes have a class captain
who has pledged to make contact with
their fellow alumni for leadership gifts,”
Pemberton said.
“Over 600 St. Charles alumni and
parents of alumni contribute $350,000
annually for student aid,” Cavello said.
“This equates to nearly 25 percent of our
student body being awarded some level of
aid.”
A growing part of those annual gifts
are coming from the school’s Class Reunion
Giving Program,” said director of
development Doug Stein.
“The foundation for this year’s alumni
fund was created by a generous outpouring
from the Classes of 1955, 1975, and
1985."
As “the Cardinal” went to press, a total
of $40,700 had been pledged from these
three reunion classes,” Stein said.
“The school has received two new
$25,000 class endowments that were
initiated by the reunion Classes of 1955 and
1985, respectively,” Stein said. “These new
funds will be here forever and have helped
guarantee future scholarship awards for
students in need.”
Stein said the Class of 1975 Endowment
was initiated three years ago as part
of The Campaign for St. Charles. The fund,
which had a balance of $15,446 before the
class reunion, has received an additional
$3,550 in pledges toward the pending
endowment.
Classes that have engaged alumni are
encouraged to initiate new funds that
perpetuate the mission of the school, Stein
said. “When you’re a student here you
probably don’t realize the generosity that
goes on behind the scenes, but take my
word for it: private philanthropy and
sacrifice helped St. Charles through some
difficult years and much of these recent
investments have secured the future of the
school.”
Stein said alumni leaders who are
forming class reunion committees will
discuss class gifts when they meet with the
school’s alumni director, Louis Fabro’83.
Louis will tell them that the ability to “give
back” is one of the most satisfying things
alumni can do on reunion weekend.
St. Charles Endowment
Update
Class of 1963 Alumni Memorial
Scholarship Fund Tops $28,000
When the St. Charles Class of 1963 celebrated
its 40-year
reunion in 2003, a
group of alumni
passed the hat at a
reunion cocktail
party to raise
money for student
scholarships at St.
Charles. A total of
$10,000 was raised
that night at Bob
Stephen Boller ’63
Walter’s house. At
the end of the 2005
fiscal year, the fund
has grown to $13,250.
Sadly, a member of that Class of 1963,
Steve Boller, died last year after a brief
illness. Unbeknownst to his classmates,
Boller had written St. Charles into his will,
which called for a generous gift from his
50
St. Charles Preparatory School