CCF-LA News | February 16, 2023 | |
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Compassion is alive
in February
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We express our gratitude and love on Valentine’s Day and then right after that we go into our Lenten Season of austerity and reflection. There is a connection between the two – it’s compassion.
On February 14 we express our compassion for others in the phone calls we make, the gifts of flowers and candy, and the cards and love notes we send to those we care about. There is a special sweetness about the tradition of children that are encouraged to send valentines to all classmates, not just the ones they know the best. Love expressed in this way is pure and simple.
With Lent that begins on February 22 we can take compassion to another level. Consider that many feel that Lent is an opportunity to improve their health with diet and exercise, their spiritual life with daily mass attendance and ashes, and their fortitude by giving up sweets and wine. While all of these are noble acts to focus inward and remind us that we are in Lent, it may be far more impactful to find ways to do something positive and unexpected that impacts others.
Look around and there are so many ways to make a difference in our families, neighborhoods, and our world. It begins with the family – find ways to visit grandma and grandpa and take them out with you, reach out to a family member to get back in touch, find ways to avoid controversy at the dinner table, and offer to help with more chores around the house.
Celebrating Valentine’s Day and preparing for Lent are two not-so-different ways to express love and compassion. This is the time of year for personal reflection on how our Lenten example can positively impact others.
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Kathy Anderson
President and Executive Director
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Notre Dame Academy students across every grade prepare for Lent | |
Conversations about how to honor the season of Lent often center around giving something up. This year, however, Notre Dame Academy (NDA) students across every grade level are emphasizing a spirit of giving during their Lenten activities.
During our Holy Thursday prayer service, elementary school students will gather to reflect on what it means to serve others the way Jesus did. They’ll also extend their compassion to each other as prayer partners and remember a fellow classmate’s intentions in their own prayers. Our “Buck a Stuff” tradition, during which students make a donation of $1 to wear non-uniform clothes to school, continues during Lent, and each class will raise funds for a charity that they have been learning about throughout the year.
NDA High School’s campus ministry team has chosen the theme “Lift Others Up as Jesus Lifted Up His Cross” for Lent 2023. This begins right in the halls of NDA with a basket in the main hall full of spiritual challenges, such as giving a new person a compliment each day of Lent, and a prayer chain made up of colorful paper on which students have written down who they’d like to lift up in prayer this season.
In addition to their own Buck a Stuff Day in support of Red Sneakers for Oakley, which raises awareness about deadly food allergies, high schoolers will also donate to and pray for the Downtown Women’s Shelter, the Coalition Against Human Trafficking, and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.
A foundation of prayer underscores these acts of service. Our elementary school students will learn more about nurturing their relationship with God through song, spontaneous and formal prayer, and quiet meditation (a surprise favorite of our energetic kindergarteners). High schoolers, meanwhile, will have the opportunity to participate in weekly Adoration and work towards a daily spiritual goal presented during morning announcements. By focusing on prayerful reflection and generosity, we hope to inspire our students to maintain the spirit of Lent — and its message of compassionate service to our community far and wide — throughout the year.
Lilliam Paetzold
Head of School, President
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Kara Duncan
Director of Family Office
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Multigenerational Giving
What’s the best way to let your heirs know about the charities you support? First, to talk to your children and grandchildren about your volunteer work and why you make charitable gifts to certain charities like your parish, school, college, or favorite nonprofits.
Next, involve your children and grandchildren in your decision-making process. If you have a Donor-Advised Fund at CCF-LA, you can invite your family to help you make decisions about grants at a family meeting. Your heirs may not have the same ideas as you do about charitable giving, but through CCF-LA charitable funds you can entrust them to distribute your charitable assets in a way that reflects your values.
Visit CatholicCF-LA.org to understand the benefits of giving through a community foundation and how to maximize the impact of your giving.
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CCF-LA Launches New Website!
We have been hard at work to create a new CCF-LA website. We invite you to explore our new site where you can find blog post's, featured client articles, our annual statement of accountability (ASA), past newsletters and more. Ongoing improvements are being made monthly.
To learn more about Who We Are, What We Do, and Why We Do It, visit our site today!
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Client Satisfaction is at the
Heart of Our Mission
Our mission to build and sustain philanthropy in support of Catholic values drives all CCF-LA services and initiatives. Our role as a provider of donor-advised and other charitable funds goes beyond the prudent management of your charitable dollars.
CCF-LA Provides Customized Client Services:
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24/7 account access with account activity updated daily;
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Personal attention from our professional staff;
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Simple and convenient online account tools;
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Monthly account statements;
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Online-giving options for your donors;
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Support for gifts of real property and other complex assets; and
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48-hour stock-transfer service for securities gifted.
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Tania Naaman
Director of Client Services and Assistant Secretary
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Capital markets started 2023 off strong with gains across global equity and fixed income markets for the first month of the year. Investor sentiment improved amid hopes that the central banks may be close to the peak of their rate hiking cycle and headline inflation continued to trend downward as unemployment rates remained at decade lows and China dropped its zero-Covid policy.
The Balanced Pool portfolio returned +5.65% (net of fees) in the month of January and the Intermediate Fund pool returned +2.33%. The estimated annual yield on the STIF account has improved to +4.22% due to the recent increase in interest rates.
The S&P 500 Index rose +6.3% during January. Large capitalization stocks underperformed their small capitalization counterparts and growth stocks outperformed value ones for the month, reversing the trend we’ve observed since July. Developed international equity markets, as measured by the MSCI EAFE Index, returned +8.1% for the month of January. The U.S. dollar weakened versus foreign economies resulting in the developed markets’ local currency returns being lower than those converted back to dollars. Fixed Income returns were positive as the 10-year Treasury yield fell 37 basis points. The Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index increased 3.0% for the month of January.
Andrew O'Boyle
Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
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Professional Philanthropy Management
Endowments | Scholarships | Donor-Advised Funds
CCF-LA provides professional philanthropy management services to individuals, and support to our communities through the investment, management, and granting of funds to deserving and socially responsible organizations.
Clients of CCF-LA can establish, as well as recommend the how, when, and where their donated funds are distributed to charitable causes. It’s your philanthropy, managed in a transparent, and faith-based setting.
To learn more about any of our charitable fund types, please call our office at
(213) 426-1180.
T. Matthew Hansen
General Counsel, Sr. Director of Operations and Corporate Secretary
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Our mission to manage philanthropic assets starts with the trust and transparency our clients expect from us in investment management. We strive to promote close connections between our client and their charities. Featured below are a few organizations that illustrate the variety and depth of those grants issued Jan. - Feb. 2023. | |
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Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters (CBBBS) was founded in 1925 and is a member of the National Big Brothers Big Sisters Network. It's one of the oldest and most respected mentoring organizations in Southern California.
CBBBS has a long history of working with youth facing adversity, and each year they serve approximately 400 young people with one-to-one mentoring matches; assess another 400 children and their families for services (and other social service referrals); and screen and train 500 adults as potential mentors or skilled volunteers.
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The Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel was established on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land in the 13th century, “near the spring of Elijah.” In the 16th century, St. Teresa of Avila initiated a reform of the Order and from Spain it spread throughout the world.
The Carmel of St. Teresa in Alhambra was established in 1913. Five nuns from the monastery in St. Luis, Missouri, came to Los Angeles to begin the Carmelite life in Southern California. The Sisters lived in rented houses in Los Angeles for ten years until the present monastery could be built in Alhambra.
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The Fulcrum Foundation was founded in March 2002 to support Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Seattle. Its mission is to increase access to Catholic education throughout Western Washington. For more than 20 years, Fulcrum has leveraged financial support to aid the students and schools that have needed it most.
Fulcrum continues to serve the Catholic schools, educators, and students in Western Washington, helping them achieve a better, brighter future, and will strive to make a quality Catholic education more accessible to any family.
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The mission of Mary Health of the Sick Convalescent and Nursing Hospital is to provide the highest level of long-term care in southern California.
The community of Sisters, Servants of Mary, Ministries to the Sick, is dedicated to helping in the personal life transition of each resident and his/her family with a spirit and expression of love and concern. Mary Health pursues excellence in the care of the whole person – body, mind, and soul.
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Founded in 1946 by the Capuchin Franciscan Friar, St. Francis High Schools is a Catholic, college preparatory school for young men in grades 9-12 and is fully accredited by Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and Western Catholic Education Association (WCEA).
St. Francis High School is committed to enriching the mind and the heart of students through a challenging academic curriculum, dedicated Franciscan Spirit and Life program, and wide variety of opportunities through arts, athletics, and extracurricular activities.
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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital treats and cures childhood cancer, sickle cell disease, and other life-threating disorders. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children.
Treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to 80% since the hospital opened more than 60 years ago.
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Founded in 1939, St. John’s Seminary is an international institution in Southern California devoted to preparing men who have responded to God’s call to the priesthood. | |
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Religious Jubilarian Mass
Religious sisters, brothers and priest from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles came together to celebrate the jubilee anniversaries of consecrated religious and their communities during a mass at 3:30 p.m. on Sun., Jan. 29, 2023.
At the mass, celebrated by Archbishop José H. Gomez, the religious and jubilarians renewed their vows as they celebrated their many years of service. More than 50 religious women and men celebrated 25 – 85 years of religious this year.
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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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