Posters displayed by St. Bede cheerleaders, left to right, Olivia Wojcik, Maeckenzie Mrowicki, Gaby Garcia, Eva Cattani and Veronica Lopez, explain the meaning behind Giving Tuesday. (Photo contributed)

PERU – For a third year, St. Bede Academy joined #GIVINGTUESDAY, a global day of giving that harnesses the collective power of individuals, communities and organizations to encourage philanthropy and to celebrate generosity worldwide. Nov. 28 marked the sixth annual international #GIVINGTUESDAY, a primarily social-media-powered day of philanthropy following Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

The #GIVINGTUESDAY movement was created in 2012 by New York’s 92nd Street Y, the United Nations Foundation and the Case Foundation. The initiative has been adopted by more than 45,000 charitable partners worldwide to promote giving in all forms.

On #GIVINGTUESDAY, the students, faculty and staff also showed their Bruin pride and participated in the challenge with their own personal donations. “We impress upon our students the importance of giving back and are proud of the many ways they do that every day,” stated Superintendent Dr. Ted Struck. “Our students joined in on Tuesday to give back not only to St. Bede but in other ways as well.”

This included a blood fair held on campus and a mitten drive for the needy. St. Bede students also filled the “big blue cart” (as referred to by Chaplain Father Ronald Magherio) for the food pantry and later loaded all the boxes onto the St. Bede bus for a trip to the food pantry. 

St. Bede set a #GivingTuesday goal of $67,000, an increase of $1,000 from 2016, and set in motion matches coming from several generous donors. David Porter ’61, and Angelo Perino ‘80, each gave matching gifts of $5,000, a $3,000 match came from Mike Rossiter ’61, a $2,000 match from John Walsh ’53 and Catherine and Christopher Campbell ’96 and LaSalle State Bank with a match of $1,500. This was topped off with two $10,000 matches from an anonymous donor and Daubert Chemical. Through this effort, St. Bede not only met their goal but set a new record total of over $100,000. Numbers are expected to be finalized shortly. Donations were primarily received online and also included faculty/staff and St. Bede students.

“Our total at nearly 35 percent more than last year is incredibly moving,” development director Julia Yaklich commented. “The outpouring of generosity and overwhelming kindness from our St. Bede family with over 190 donations has made an incredible impact to the St. Bede Annual Fund. We were excited to well exceed our goal, and doubly grateful to our donors that provided the matches of $38,500 to help us get there.”

Abbot Philip, O.S.B. ’65 commented, “Giving Tuesday is always an exciting and motivating day. The increase of gifts in number and amount every year demonstrates the commitment of our alumni and friends to support our important mission of preparing our students for their future education and their role in making the church and the world a better place. At the same time people’s support and generosity motivates us to continue to improve our program and facilities. We are truly blessed.”

The St. Bede Annual Fund is a means of providing a steady stream of income to the school and yearly donated funds help with the day-today-costs of operating St. Bede to meet its annual budget. Gifts to the Annual Fund are vital to keep St. Bede tuition affordable by bridging the gap of more than 53 percent.