The Saint John Baptist de La Salle Fund
A Legacy to Ensure That Lasallian Education is Accessible to All
The Saint John Baptist de La Salle Fund (SJBDLS Fund) provides tuition support for students throughout our District who are experiencing the most dire need. This support is becoming an even more significant piece of our effort to ensure that a first-rate Lasallian education can be within the reach of those who desire it, regardless of their economic situation. Currently, the fund is providing just over $1 million annually in tuition assistance to hundreds of students from the most economically disadvantaged areas and situations. Our District leadership would like to see that figure continue to increase.
Br. Robert Schaefer, FSC, Provincial/Visitor, stated “We Brothers realize that with fewer of us in the classroom today, we need to continue efforts to ensure the continuity of St. La Salle’s vision for the generations to come. Along with our Vocations efforts, and continuing to train our teachers and administrators in the ways of the Founder, The Saint John Baptist de La Salle Fund helps to solidify our mission of providing access to those most in need.”
Ms. Brenda Blanton, teacher at La Salle Educational Center in Homestead FL, welcomes a new member of the Readers Club.
A graduate at La Salle School in Albany NY receives a congratulatory hug.
In the days of our Founder, there was no classroom educational structure as we know today. Education was for the wealthy, and somewhat for the children of the merchant class. St. John Baptist de La Salle was a Catholic priest who had many other duties and responsibilities in the hierarchy of the Church. However, upon helping his friend, Adrien Nyel, start a school for poor children, he began to formulate his understanding of education. He prayerfully concluded that providing a human and Christian education was the only way to truly raise these children out of poverty, and make a lasting, positive change in their lives.
Schools today are continually challenged to balance tuition costs, while staying true to the Lasallian charism. While our ministries do everything they can to keep a quality Lasallian Catholic education in reach for the families they serve, it has become increasingly necessary to provide additional funds for tuition assistance. This is especially important to those schools that serve urban areas and populations most in need of financial support, and could face difficulty meeting the economic burdens of ensuring that deserving students are able to receive a Lasallian education. This is when the St. John Baptist de La Salle Fund is most urgently necessary.
In an audience with the Brothers in 2019, Pope Francis encouraged them to continue to do everything possible for those most in need, “Dear spiritual children of John Baptist de La Salle, I exhort you to study and imitate his passion for the least and discarded. In the furrow of his apostolic testimony, may you be protagonists of a ‘culture of resurrection,’ especially in those existential contexts where the culture of death is prevalent. Never tire of going in search of those who find themselves in modern day ‘sepulchers’ of dismay, degradation, distress and poverty, in order to offer hope and new life.”
This financial assistance for those most in need can truly be a life changing experience. Many of the students who are able to attend one of our Lasallian schools with the help of the Saint John Baptist de La Salle Fund come from extremely economically challenged areas, where the graduation rates can be as low as 50 to 70 percent. Compare that to 98 to 100 percent graduation rates for these same students who attend our schools.
“More members of our Lasallian family are beginning to realize the huge importance of this life-saving fund,” said Patrick Donahue, Director of Advancement for the District. “When speaking to donors who wish to remember the Christian Brothers in their wills, I have started to hear some say that they want to know that their lasting legacy will help these disadvantaged students for generations to come.”
Students from La Salle Academy in Manhattan NY take part in a service project, bringing food to neighborhood families in need.
In each issue of Lasallian Notes, our feature “Face of the Fund” presents one of the inspirational stories of a student whose life has been changed by the Saint John Baptist de La Salle Fund. In this issue, you can read about Matthew, and how he has matured and grown in his educational commitment during his middle school years at The De La Salle School.
You can help make a Lasallian education even more accessible to hundreds of students each year just like Matthew. To join the Brothers in this life-changing mission, just mark the “De La Salle Scholarship Fund” box when you return the gift envelope in this newsletter. To include The Fund in your will or estate plans, or set up a recurring gift, please contact Patrick Donahue in our Development Office at (732) 380-7926 or at donahue@fscdena.org.
Please know that your gift can change our students’ lives and help them to achieve a lifetime of returns on your investment!
Recipients of the SJBDLS Fund become part of our amazing Lasallian family.
