Bishop Andrew Cozzens, vicar of Catholic Education and now bishop-designate of Crookston, visits during the Oct. 8 Night of Light fundraising dinner for the scholarship-granting Aim Higher Foundation.

Bishop Andrew Cozzens, vicar of Catholic Education and now bishop-designate of Crookston, visits during the Oct. 8 Night of Light fundraising dinner for the scholarship-granting Aim Higher Foundation. COURTESY RICH GRANER | AIM HIGHER FOUNDATION

Campaign goes public at Oct. 8 Night of Light ninth annual dinner

With Archbishop Bernard Hebda, Bishop Andrew Cozzens and other backers of Catholic education at its ninth annual fundraising dinner Oct. 8, the Aim Higher Foundation announced a public campaign to boost its ability to offer low-income families $1,000 scholarships for their children to attend Catholic elementary schools.

A silent launch to the Aim Ever Higher Campaign began in 2019 and already has borne fruit, raising $11.5 million in commitments, Jean Houghton, president of the St. Paul-based nonprofit, told the gathering of 400 people at the Intercontinental St. Paul Riverfront hotel. That includes more than $800,000 raised that very evening, at the Night of Light, she said.

“We are enormously grateful for those who have helped us lay such a solid foundation for this campaign,” Houghton said. “Over the next several months, if we haven’t spoken to you already, we will invite all of you to join this effort.”

Founded in 2011, Aim Higher has urged annual donations. In the campaign set to run in a concentrated fashion through spring 2022, the foundation is seeking multi-year commitments, from three to five years. That will help the organization continue to renew scholarships annually through eighth grade, based on need, even if students transfer to another Catholic school, Aim Higher officials said.

Aim Higher also is creating a similar, $1,000 scholarship fund particularly for students who attend one of the 10 schools that are part of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Drexel Mission School initiative aiding inner city schools. Donations can be designated for that fund, said Ricky Austin, Aim Higher vice president of advancement and operations. Potential donors also can help supplement the foundation’s endowment fund, from which interest earned is used for $1,000 scholarships.

School leaders have affirmed that $1,000 scholarships often give parents the confidence to enroll in a Catholic school or seek additional aid if necessary, Austin said.

He told those gathered at the Night of Light that their support is critical, because too many families “don’t have access to the quality of education they deserve. Too many families seek the benefits Catholic schools offer and can’t make the finances work.”

That’s where Aim Higher comes in, Houghton said. “The Aim Higher Foundation does one thing: We work to provide tuition-assistance scholarships for children to access Catholic schools,” she said.

The desire from families to educate their children in Catholic schools for quality academics and spiritual and moral development is strong and growing, particularly in light of the online and in-school teaching offered throughout the pandemic, Houghton said.

For the 2021-2022 school year, Aim Higher received nearly 6,500 applications from families seeking more than $20 million in tuition assistance. The foundation was able to support nearly 2,100 families with a total of $2.1 million in scholarships, foundation officials said.

In his remarks, Archbishop Hebda said Aim Higher is more than a program or organization.

“The work of the Aim Higher Foundation is nothing short of a movement, a movement to inspire and mobilize all of us around the very soul of our future Church and nation: our children,” the archbishop said.

Aim Higher emphasizes its mission by stating “we do one thing,” the archbishop said. “While we should all appreciate this laser focus, it’s imperative to note that the impact of the Aim Higher Foundation, the impact of your donations tonight, are one thing that set into motion a cascade of positive changes” in helping parents and their children, and “providing confidence to school leaders to continue the holy work they do.”

SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS

The Aim Higher Foundation is accepting applications for the 2022-2023 school year from November 2021, through Feb. 22, 2022; and May 31, 2022, through Aug. 6, 2023. Go to aimhigherfoundation.org or visit a Catholic elementary school and ask about Aim Higher.