Advancement Update

While the start of our school year was challenging with the loss of Fr. Ralph, we have been so blessed to be together and feel the love and support of our entire Chaminade Family. Your generous support following the death of Fr. Ralph was remarkable. Chaminade has received memorial contributions totaling more than $160,000 from nearly 200 gifts.

As a tribute to Fr. Ralph’s Jubilee Celebration of 50 years as a Professed Marianist, the Chaminade Family came together to establish the Vera Siefert Memorial Scholarship in Honor of Rev. Ralph A. Siefert, S.M. It was one of Father Ralph’s goals to have this scholarship fully funded by the time he retired. With that in mind, the decision was made to allocate memorial gifts to this scholarship. We are happy to report that the Vera Siefert Scholarship has been fully funded and will now generate a full tuition scholarship.

Vera Siefert was a strong and caring woman who dedicated her life to raising her only child, Ralph. They lived in South St. Louis where Ralph was first exposed to the Catholic faith through a friend and neighbor. As a single parent, Ms. Siefert faced many struggles, financial and otherwise, yet she persevered and remained the supportive and loving pillar in Ralph’s life until her passing in 2005. The criteria for this scholarship was created as a tribute to all that Ms. Siefert did for her son Ralph. This scholarship is awarded to an incoming 7th grader who comes from a single parent family and has financial need. It is renewable as long as the recipient maintains a B average or better, exhibits a variety of interests and makes a positive contribution to the Chaminade School Community.

Now that the Vera Siefert Memorial Scholarship has been funded, gifts made in memory of Fr. Ralph are being designated to a newly endowed scholarship established this fall in memory of Fr. Ralph – The Reverend Ralph A. Siefert, S.M. Esto Vir Scholarship. It has received more than $50,000 in contributions making it eligible to be awarded for the first time this spring for the 2022-2023 school year.

The superb sales techniques of our students resulted in us surpassing this year’s goal and breaking our previous sales record by over $10,000 with $170,975 in total tickets sales. Thank you to everyone who supported the Rowdy Red Raffle this year by purchasing a ticket.

A special shout out to this year’s Rowdy Red Raffle Committee of juniors Nilavan Daniels, Nick Duggan, Peter Fesler, Charlie Hughes, Joe Mura, Max Nottingham, Travis Pryor, Holden Schroyer, and Charlie Travers. Their creativity in determining the revamped incentives and the clarity and thorough explanation of the selling process in their video were key to the record level of sales achieved. We are so grateful to them and proud of their efforts.

The money raised from this year’s raffle will provide an update to the campus ministry area and increase internet access in Chaminade Hall and McBride Hall which will address the connectivity challenges in the library, Café Moe and the Atrium.

MENTOR GROUPS THAT EARNED A FREE BREAKFAST

MRS. GALVAN – GRAY MR. BELL – LAMOUROUS MR. MORGAN – MAUCLERC MR. SLATTERY – MEYER MR. HAHN – O’DONNELL

HOUSE WITH HIGHEST % OF PARTICIPATION

STUDENTS EARNED A PERSONAL DAY OFF BY SELLING 10+ TICKETS

STUDENTS EARNED A DRESS DOWN DAY BY SELLING 6 TICKETS

When you are introduced to someone from St. Louis, the first question that is usually asked is ‘what high school did you attend?’ And for more than 50 years, the William Cullen McBride High School graduates had to respond that their school had closed. They no longer had a high school home.

In 1983 at their 50th reunion (some 12 years following the school’s closing), the McBride class of 1935 conspired to rekindle the fire; the McBride Alumni Club was the result. The Chaminade community has “adopted” the McBride men, displaying their trophies and banners, hosting their annual Communion Breakfast and Hall of Fame ceremonies, and creating a “Throw-back” night where the Chaminade basketball team wears the McBride colors of orange and green.

This fall Chaminade continued the tradition of being home to McBride events as McBride Alive, a Homecoming of sorts, was celebrated on campus. Generations of Micks recalled their shared experience and had the opportunity to talk about those days of long ago over a casual dinner and live music provided by Butch Wax and The Hollywoods. And the 1971 graduates that were at McBride when the doors closed had a chance for a golden reunion.

In return for Chaminade’s wonderful hospitality, the McBride Alumni Club has established the McBride Legacy Scholarships Endowment to provide scholarships for the legacies (such as grandsons, great-grandsons, nephews, etc.) of the McBride alumni. To date McBride alumni have contributed over $1.5 million dollars to this endowment. Over the last 12 years, 158 Chaminade students have received annual support from the McBride Legacy Scholarship, and for the 2021-2022 school year there are 60 McBride Legacy Scholars.

While typically included in this issue of the Esto Vir Magazine, the Chaminade 2020-21 Annual Report of Donors (July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021) moved to a digital report posted in September.

You can use this link https://resources.finalsite.net/ images/v1632837550/ chaminadestlorg/ n1lucuavhufrwxvctkyl/ ChaminadeAnnualReport20218.pdf to access the report.

A successful Chaminade Fund is critical to our overall financial success and enables us to continue to offer a challenging, transformative Catholic Marianist education. Your gift ensures that we are able to maintain our exceptional level of academic excellence, mentoring and support, faith formation, leadership and service opportunities, and extra-curricular activities that impact each student’s “Esto Vir” journey.

A Chaminade Fund gift goes directly into our operations budget and is utilized to support our rigorous academic curriculum, professional development for faculty, all facets of the arts and athletic programs, Global Reach education, grade-level retreats, campus-wide improvements, and the more than 55% of students receiving tuition assistance.

The Chaminade Fund is critical to our mission and to our financial success. We hope that you will help lead that effort this year. Your partnership makes it possible for us to offer educational opportunities to all of our students.