The Catholic Foundation celebrated Catholic education with the 4th Annual Foundation Scholars Prayer Breakfast at the El Paso Club. Parents, scholars, families, teachers, principals, men and women religious, and benefactors gathered to celebrate the Bishop’s Scholars, Faith Scholar, Hunt Scholars, and Miles Scholars.

The Foundation awarded $162,738 in financial aid to 72 Foundation Scholars attending El Paso’s Catholic Schools in 2016-2017. Most of the scholarship aid was distributed from scholarship endowed funds, like the Michael & Clara Miles Scholarship Fund, with the remainder coming from donations and a generous grant from the Hunt Family Foundation.

The Father Yermo choir sang the gathering song, Bishop Mark J. Seitz led the prayer breakfast, and Sr. Helen Santa Maria, SL, blessed the meal. Jo Soto was the guest speaker. Born and raised in El Paso, she is a Catholic education advocate who has given quietly and tirelessly to the El Paso community for decades. Most recently, she and her husband, Ed, contributed their time, talent, energy, and resources to the Loretto Academy St. Joseph Chapel renovation project.

Fr. Allan Alaka, parochial vicar at St. Raphael Parish, concluded the breakfast with the poem “God Has Created Me” by John Henry Cardinal Newman, the patron saint of Catholic education and university students.

Following the prayer breakfast, the Catholic Foundation received a generous donation of $10,000 for the Bishop’s Scholarship Fund, which provides an opportunity for deserving students to attend El Paso’s Catholic middle and high schools.

A big thanks to Marcelo and the wonderful team at the El Paso Club, our scholars, their families, all 11 of our Catholic schools, our teachers, principals, administrators, and staff, men and women religious, our many donors, the Hunt Family Foundation, Michael and Clara Miles, and Bishop Mark Seitz.