CCF-LA News | February 14, 2024 | |
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In February, the Gift of Love is a Valentine and a Catholic School Education
The excitement of the many activities during the last week of January to celebrate Catholic school’s week has carried over into February as we highlight this month the many scholarship funds at CCF-LA that benefit Catholic school students. It is our signal to get ready for what we refer to as “scholarship season”. During this time, we are working on scholarships and tuition awards for fall attendance.
From the list below, we have many opportunities to provide the true gift of love – a Catholic school education to a financially and academically deserving student that wants to learn in a faith-filled and safe environment, with a rigorous and well-rounded curriculum. As my dad used to say to me, your Catholic school education is one thing we give you that will make a difference in your life and that no one can ever take away from you. That’s exactly why we strongly support our scholarship programs for Catholic schools.
In the funds below, you will find many reasons why these funds were established – to honor a teacher, a school, a student, or to express what was important in the donor’s life. Especially, they honor every donor who contributes to these funds by perpetuating Catholic school education.
We would like to tell the story of our newest fund – Adan Vences Memorial Scholarship. This young man passed away two weeks ago from a long illness with cancer. He attended Incarnation School in Glendale and was to graduate from St. Francis High School this June.
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Shortly before he died, the school’s president and principal delivered Adan’s diploma to him at Children’s Hospital. His science teacher at Incarnation and his math teacher at St. Francis approached us together to set up a fund that would provide tuition support to students from Incarnation to attend St. Francis. They wanted to strengthen the bond between the schools by honoring the courage and example of this young man’s short life. They also chose to give the gift of love with their own charitable dollars.
With much gratitude for each of our scholarship funds – to the donors that made them
possible and to the students who make us proud.
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Kathy Anderson
President and Executive Director
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Scholarship Administration – A labor of LOVE! | |
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Administering scholarships is undoubtedly one of the most fulfilling aspects of my role at the CCF-LA. It affords us the opportunity to not only provide financial support, we are able to engage with the recipients during ceremonies at their schools when we deliver scholarship certificates of recognition.
We mark each scholarship award date on our calendar with attention to donor’s criteria and intention. Then we collaborate with the advisor (typically the school’s principal) to verify the eligibility of the students selected and after that we issue the grant to the school for the student’s tuition.
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Tania Naaman
Director of Client Services and Corporate Secretary
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This process begins in early April with funding completed in June for the following school year. This helps the school and the families with their budgets as they prepare for the next school year.
Our scholarship program is the ultimate gift of love -- a Catholic school education that has a profound impact on our client, the school, the student, their family, and their neighborhood. We cherish the opportunity that enriches the lives of students and nurtures the future of our community.
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Welcome Gina, Our Operations Manager | |
Join us in welcoming Gina Lopez, our new Operations Manager. Her functions include HR, IT and Facilities management. Gina comes to us from the health care industry, primarily in the area of senior living and memory care communities. Gina will concentrate on employee relations, compliance, and best practices to continue making CCF-LA a great workplace. | | |
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Gina is a parishioner at St. Luke the Evangelist in San Gabriel, Valley. The CCF-LA mission is in line with Gina's beliefs. Her two daughters have attended local Catholic Schools from K-12, one of which will be graduating this May. Gina's motto is "Giving back to those who have served us and are less unfortunate brings me joy."
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Gina Lopez
Operations Manager
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Attached is the January 2024 Performance Report for the pooled funds managed by CCF-LA. For the month of January, the Balanced Pool portfolio returned -0.30%, net of fees, underperforming the allocation benchmark return of +0.14%. The Intermediate Fund pool returned +0.59% and the estimated annual yield on the Short-Term Investment Fund account is currently +5.46%.
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Armando Nevarez
Controller and Assistant Treasurer
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After a significant rally last year, global equities continued their upward trajectory. While robust economic data and strong fourth quarter earnings aided returns and strengthened expectations for a successful soft landing, the first six weeks of 2024 have experienced volatility due to economic indicators around cpi and inflation, debt ratios, and uncertainty around future interest rate cuts.
The S&P 500 Index gained +1.7% for the month of January. International equities, as measured by the MSCI EAFE Index, were roughly flat for the month, closing the month in positive territory with a gain of +0.6% in January. In Fixed Income, the Bloomberg US Aggregate Index was down -0.3% for the month.
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With literally standing room only, the Carmelite Sisters held their annual gala on January 28 celebrating Santa Teresita “At the Service of the Family for Life”. We were once again not disappointed in the acting capability of the sisters as they hosted their own version of the popular show Jeopardy! On hand were many long-time supporters of the work of the sisters as they care for aging populations and provide spiritual formation programs for all ages...
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Sunday, January 28, 2024, marked the annual Eucharistic Celebration at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels for Religious Jubilarians. Archbishop José Gomez and his five auxiliary bishops were all on hand to celebrate and honor the religious women and men marking their 25, 35, 40, 50, 60, 70 and yes, 75 years of service in religious life. The event also recognized the 70, 75, and 100-year milestones of religious communities ministering in the archdiocese, with a particularly enthusiastic group honoring the Sisters of Notre Dame and the Congregational of the Sisters of Nazareth for their 100 year history in Los Angeles, and the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception celebrating 150 years in this Archdiocese
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Saint Peter & Paul Annual Gala
Jimmy Ozaeta attended the Saints Peter & Paul School Annual Gala Dinner & Auction Saturday, February 3, 2024. The fun-filled event consisted of an auction, school choir performance, and dinner. Bishop Marc Trudeau and Fr. Claude, the pastor, were on hand for the event. Congratulations to the Saint Peter & Paul board members and school community for an amazing fundraising event.
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No Greater Love...
The Newman Guild, who support the USC Catholic Center and the parish, help to create a great ministry for campus students. We were honored to be invited to hear their guest speaker, Renee Bondi. Renee was engaged to be married and had a beautiful singing voice, bright future and a then had a crushing accident forever changing her life, leaving her a quadriplegic. As time went on, her relationship with God grew and today she shares her testimony to stay strong, and live and honor your life in grace with God's love.
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Happy Work Anniversary!
How time fly’s when you’re enjoying the works of a good deed! Janette Gordo and Bonnie Peralta both from very different industries, met at CCF-LA on their 1st day of work 2 years ago. They enjoy working for a faith-based foundation that supports those less fortunate. “The dedication of our team’s mission is so inspiring to us.”
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Three Kings Day-Candelaria Day | |
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At the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas comes Three Kings Day (Dia de Los Reyes) or the Feast of Epiphany in the Catholic tradition on January 6th. This celebrates the day the three wise men first saw the baby Jesus and brought him gifts. Three Kings Cake (Rosca de Reyes) is a tradition around the Epiphany. The cake served has a small figure of the baby Jesus is hidden. If you are fortunate to find the baby in your slice, you have to bring tamales for everyone on February 2nd, Candelaria Day. Our staff celebrates these traditions!
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Happy FAT Valentine's Day!
With Fat Tuesday and Valentine's Day right next to each other, we created a Happy Fat Valentines Day! Always looking for a celebration of gratitude for our work at CCF-LA.
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Mission Statement
The Catholic Community Foundation of Los Angeles empowers charitable individuals and organizations across cultures and generations through professional philanthropy management solutions that allow clients to develop and sustain their philanthropy in support of Catholic values.
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