Pete Browne ʼ85 Honored as Alumnus of the Year

Each year at Rockhurst, we witness amazing things as we observe the growth and formation of our young men at Rockhurst. And each year alumni, parents, grandparents, past parents, and friends help build the eyrie which supports this great Jesuit Catholic tradition at Rockhurst. Thanks to this community support, as our Hawklets leave this eyrie, they in turn become leaders in the community.

EYRIE FUND contributions are annual gifts supporting the daily operations of Rockhurst High School to keep Jesuit formation and education a vibrant and accessible option for families throughout the Kansas City metropolitan region. Every student at Rockhurst benefits from your support because the operational gap between tuition income and operating costs is $2,195 per student.

Gifts to the EYRIE FUND enable us to enact our mission, as your gifts to this fund provide resources supporting everything we do, including academics, co-curriculars, athletics, community service, and pastoral ministry.

Your philanthropic generosity also allows us to provide $2.7 million in financial assistance direct to students who would not be a part of our Rockhurst Eyrie community were it not for donor generosity.

Your prompt commitment to provide support of the EYRIE FUND will enable your gift to create impact right away. If you’d like to speak with someone directly about your philanthropic support, please call Diane Marty, Vice President of Philanthropy & Engagement, at 816.363.2036 x538 or email dmarty@rockhursths.edu.

Whether you are an alumnus, parent, grandparent, past parent, or friend you know the impact of a Rockhurst education for our graduates – and, as men for others – for the world.

We are embarked on another year of thriving for your collective sons, brothers, and friends, and invite you to make Rockhurst High School your top philanthropic priority for the results you are experiencing yourselves…and watching take flight in today’s Hawklets.

Make your gift to the EYRIE FUND today!

“Eyrie” (EYE-ree): the nest of a hawk. The place where a Hawklet develops before he can take wing and be prepared to embark in the world on his own.

This is a wonderful image for our Hawklets at Rockhurst High School – the metaphor we use in naming our Annual Fund the EYRIE FUND.

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Standing in line to mail last-minute Christmas gifts some 20 years ago, Rich Gentile ’75 saw a stack of children’s letters to Santa on the counter of the post office. The letters were meant to be fulfilled by generous citizens, but the majority would remain untouched through the holiday season.

The sadness that struck him that day would be the genesis for Santa for a Day (SFAD), a public charity organization founded by Gentile that answers letters to Santa for disadvantaged kids. First established in 2018 in Chicago, SFAD has grown to seven cities, including Kansas City.

Gentile’s professional career was spent in television production with CBS Sports. Through his extensive network, he was able to facilitate partnerships with NBA teams including the Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks, and Philadelphia 76ers to help expand to those cities.

The 2021 addition of Kansas City as an SFAD city was fueled by a partnership with Rockhurst benefactor John Sherman, owner of the Royals, who then involved Royals Charities. In its first year in Kansas City, Royals Charities provided 500 kids with the gifts they asked for in their letters to Santa. Through partnerships with the housing authorities in each of the participating cities, SFAD recipients come from families living 150% below the poverty line. Gentile’s organization ensures that each child in the program receives a Christmas gift. The program also adds a literacy emphasis for the children in writing the letters that will be answered. The SFAD team facilitates gift requests and purchases, so no letters go unnoticed or untouched.

To date, SFAD has provided 30,000 gifts for 15,000 kids, and Gentile looks forward to continued growth and success. “My Jesuit background plays an important role in this undertaking because I was taught to become someone for others,” he says. “And knowing that kids had unanswered letters just broke my heart. So the initial goal of this was just to show the power of kindness in the face of adversity.”

Spoken like a “man for others”.

To learn more about Santa for a Day, visit www.santaforaday.org.

Rich Gentile ’75 (left) is the founder of Santa for a Day.