As students return to school, some do so with money provided in an unusual way – by helping people heat their homes.
Young members of St. Denis Parish in Ashburnham and St. Edward the Confessor Parish in Westminster were promised a total of $3,500 in scholarships from the parishes’ Knights of Columbus Council 15972 last spring, according to Jack McCarthy of St. Denis, the Knights’ financial secretary.
“Knights of Columbus does charitable work, and Catholic education is an important thing to all of us,” he said, explaining why he suggested this project to the council a couple years ago. It is important to help practicing Catholics with their education in Catholic elementary and high schools, he said. (Students receiving college scholarships do not have to be attending a Catholic institution.)
With the council’s approval, Mr. McCarthy said, he sought donations for raffles.
Last year, and again this year, the council raised more than $4,000 by raffling donations for heating homes, according to Mr. McCarthy. He said Anderson Timber Harvesting in Westminster and Central Mass Tree in Winchendon each donated a cord of wood, Powell Stone & Gravel in Winchendon donated one ton of wood pellets, and Roy Bros. Oil in Ashburnham donated 200 gallons of oil, with two raffle winners each receiving 100 gallons.
“We thought that, with the cost of heating, it would be an attractive” raffle, Mr. McCarthy explained. He said they sold tickets all over the community, not just at the churches.
Proceeds pay for scholarships for active members of the two parishes, though the Knights are open to funding other students if they do not get applications from parishioners, Mr. McCarthy said.
Applicants had to write an essay about their goals and the value of a Catholic education, and give their age, school, and what they are involved in at their school and parish, he said.
Mr. McCarthy said that this year the Knights awarded $1,000 each to two college students, one from each parish; $500 each to two students going to Catholic high school, and $500 for one student going to Catholic elementary school. The rest of the money raised stays in the bank for the future.
Normally there would be only one high school scholarship recipient, he said. But since there were no applications from high schoolers last year, the Knights awarded two of those scholarships this year. And this year was the first time elementary school students were invited to apply.
Mr. McCarthy said this year’s recipients received certificates June 27 at a pizza party at St. Edward’s. They are to receive the money as reimbursement after they present the Knights with a receipt showing what school expense they chose to use it for.
“They’re all very pleased to get any financial support,” Mr. McCarthy said.
Recipients were: Dominic Marabello, from St. Edward’s, attending Fitchburg State University; Sophie Michalowski, St. Denis, attending George Washington University, Washington, D.C.; Isabelle and Grace Comeau, St. Denis, attending St. Bernard’s High School, Fitchburg, and Anna LeBlanc, St. Edward’s, attending St. Anna Elementary School, Leominster.
Antonette Comeau, mother of Isabelle, 15, and Grace, 14, said it was great to get the scholarships, since she and her husband, Nathan, have two daughters going to Catholic high school. The family heard about the scholarship program through St. Denis, Mrs. Comeau said. Last year they did not apply for a scholarship, since they made the decision late to send Isabelle to St. Bernard’s.
Their girls were in public school, but this year all are going to Catholic schools, she said; the twins are entering seventh grade at St. Leo Elementary in Leominster.
“There was something missing from the public schools,” Mrs. Comeau said. Going to St. Bernard’s, Isabelle made positive changes in the “way she conducted herself with her studies (and) at home.”
Mrs. Comeau said St. Bernard’s claims to provide a Christ-centered education and foundation, and that’s what she and her husband, who both graduated from there, want for their daughters.
“We just feel so blessed to be able to do that for our children,” she said. (Financial aid from the school helped too.)
Tuition costs are a barrier preventing many families from sending their children to Catholic schools, Mrs. Comeau said, but that might change if parents knew scholarships are available.
She said the Knights’ essay requirement was great for Isabelle and Grace – it got them to think and write about the values they want to gain from their education, to make them successful. It also helped them prepare for when they will need to write essays to get into college.