Brooklyn Boro

Catholic Diocesan Futures in Education dinner raises $2.3 million, surpasses 2014 record

Scholarships Enable Needy Students To Attend Catholic Schools

October 21, 2015 By Francesca Norsen Tate, Religion Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle
From left: 2015 honoree Lou Grassi, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, 2015 honoree Lou Milo and Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello. Photo courtesy of The Tablet
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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn’s Futures in Education Dinner, held Oct. 16 at the Waldorf Astoria New York in Manhattan, set a new record in raising scholarship funds for impoverished children.

This year’s dinner, benefiting the diocese’s Futures in Education scholarship fund, raised $2.3 million, surpassing the record $2.2 million it raised last year. Scholarships will be given to the deserving students of low-income families of Brooklyn and Queens to attend Catholic elementary schools and academies.

“When you save one soul, you save the whole world. This is the same, we are working one child at a time. Thanks to God we are able to help nearly 6,000 deserving students with scholarships to stay in our schools,” said the Most Rev. Nicholas DiMarzio, bishop of Brooklyn, during the event.

The dinner is the biggest annual event of the nonprofit organization, which welcomed more than 800 guests and featured speeches by Bishop DiMarzio and Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, vicar for Development of the Diocese of Brooklyn.

The dinner also highlighted the testimony of Mayra Depena, the mother of a student of Salve Regina Catholic Academy in East New York who has benefited from Futures in Education’s scholarship programs.

Students from St. Mark Catholic Academy, tenor Daniel Rodriguez and singer Stephanie Hanvey all gave performances at the event. The Mistress of Ceremonies was the award-winning reporter Juliet Papa from the local radio station 1010WINS.

This year’s fundraiser honored Louis C. Grassi, CPA, CFE president and CEO of Grassi & Co.; and Louis S. Milo, president of Milrose Consultants. John A. Loconsolo, executive president of Locon Realty Corp., was awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award for being an Angel to 70 deserving students through Future’s sponsoring program that helps subsidize the cost of tuition, in addition to his dedicated commitment with Futures in Education since its inception.

Futures in Education celebrates 25 years of supporting low-income families through partial needs-based scholarships. The program has awarded more than $50 million over the last seven years alone. Futures in Education strives to ensure that the gift of Catholic education continues to be a viable option for current and future generations of deserving students in Brooklyn and Queens. For more information visit www.futuresineducation.org.

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