Six Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese of Louisville are asking their alumnae to unite to raise money for their institutions’ annual funds.
For the past six years, the all-girl schools — Assumption High School, Mercy Academy, Presentation Academy and Sacred Heart Academy — have participated in the #RivalsUnite4Girls fundraising challenge. Two years ago, Holy Cross and Bethlehem joined in and the challenge was renamed Alumnae Unite. This year, Alumnae Unite will be held March 23 to 25.
Throughout its six years of existence, the campaign has raised more than $1.25 million for girls’ Catholic education, according to a news release from the schools.
Despite the name change and the addition of participants, the goal remains the same: “We want a highly-educated female population that will give back to the community,” Presentation Academy director of development Elizabeth Ruwe said. “We can raise more funds to accomplish this goal when we join together than we can separately.”
Holy Cross alumni coordinator Jackie Loftus said, “We were thrilled to be included in the Alumnae Unite Challenge for the first time last year. We were happy with the results and excited to see many new donors who found this particular challenge worthy of a gift.”
The 60-hour challenge will begin at noon March 23 and end at midnight March 25. However, all annual fund gifts made by alumnae from July 1, 2021, will count toward the final participation percentage for the respective schools. The theme of this year’s challenge is “All for 22.” The goal is for all six schools to reach 22 percent alumnae participation in 2022.
“ ‘All for 22’ sets an ambitious goal for all schools to achieve,” Mercy’s director of advancement Leslie Hibdon said. “Each year we push our efforts a little further to continue encouraging women in their philanthropic efforts.”
At the completion of last year’s challenge, Mercy had 20.91 percent of its alumnae donate to the school. Presentation saw 17.36 percent participation and Assumption was a close third with 16.83 percent. Sacred Heart drew participation from 15.51 percent of its alumnae. Holy Cross had 10.2 percent of its alumnae participate and Bethlehem had 7 percent alumnae participation.
All funds raised benefit the schools’ annual fund, which supports the operational budget and tuition assistance and helps bridge the gap between tuition and what it costs to educate a student, the release said.
