I have the best job in the world! Here are a few stories that justify my point.
January 2017, a member of our community stops in my office and asks, “Bruce, what can we do to help families take a look at the great education we have here at St. Joe’s?” “That’s a great question,” I reply, and we brainstormed many ideas. After a few weeks and several conversations, he lets me know that he is going to lead an effort to help every new student who attends St. Joe’s in the fall of 2017 receive an incentive for registering at the school. In the end, he was able to garner support for new families in the amount of $1,500 for each new student. We advertised this throughout the enrollment season and in the end we had 28 new students register for the 2017-18 school year. You can do the math. What an amazing gift and what a great day!
June 2017, I happen to be working in my office in my summer Hawaiian shirt. All of the sudden I get a visitor in my office. “Hello Bruce, I have a special request,” they say. “I’d like to help you enroll a new student to the school, and I want to help pay their tuition for their whole K-8 career. Can you find me a student and family that needs that kind of support?” “Oh my, let me grab a Kleenex,” I say as I wipe a tear from my eye. I will do my best to find you such a student.” I was happy to find a family in need, and they enrolled. What a great day!
December 2017, I’m sitting in my office one day right before Christmas when I hear a familiar voice ask, “Hello is Mr. Richards available?” Emily does a quick check with me to make sure that I’m free and I say of course. Into my office walks a friend with a big smile on their face. After some small talk and a few laughs, I’m handed a check. I look at the check and my mouth falls agape. The look on my face says it all and the smile on their face does as well. I ask what the check is for and the response is, “I want to help pay tuition for someone that I love. I have been blessed and I want to pay it forward.” I ask about anonymity and yes, they asked me to keep this anonymous and it was up to me to find a way to share the news with the family involved. So, a day or two later I’m able to set up an appointment with the mom and I get to share the news that their tuition has been paid in full by someone who loves them. Tears and smiles abound. What a great moment!
I have the best job in the world! I get to be in the middle of so much joy in this generous community. There are many stories like this, unfortunately I’m limited by the amount of space in this column. Thank you all for your generous support for our Catholic School. You are greatly appreciated and you are helping to form the spiritual souls of our youth. May God bless you all today and everyday!
