Batesville, In. —St. Louis Catholic School has served the City of Batesville since 1871 and continues to thrive today because of the Parents and Teachers who are dedicated to ensuring that Batesville has a quality private school option. The SLS Parent Teacher Organization invested in the school’s future by establishing an endowment fund with the Ripley County Community Foundation, Inc. The PTO chose the Community Foundation’s Annual Day of Giving to start their fund because they received a 50% match on their donation from Lilly Endowment Inc.’s GIFT VII matching funds program.
The PTO supports St. Louis School’s mission by promoting cooperation between parents, faculty and the parish community. Jill Weberding, President of St. Louis School PTO stated, “We wanted to start an endowment fund to enable contributions to benefit both current and future students at St. Louis School. The fund will ensure that we can provide various PTO services to our students such as enrichment programs, support for our fine arts programs, funding for clubs such as robotics, STEM supplies for the classroom, educational and interactive field trips, upgrades to playground equipment, support for our teachers, as well as scholarships to 8th graders continuing their Catholic education in high school. Our PTO provides supplemental funding for our school programs and students and this endowment fund will make sure that we can do that in a sustainable way.”
“Understanding the mission and goals of the St. Louis PTO, the establishment of an endowment fund was the logical next step; it will ensure that St. Louis School will be vibrant and relevant for future generations. The Community Foundation is honored that it will be working with the St. Louis School PTO in creating academic opportunities for local students now and forever”, stated Amy Streator, Executive Director of the Ripley County Community Foundation, Inc.
“This fund, and all of the funds administered by the community foundation, are always accepting donations. Anyone with a desire to support St. Louis School can donate to this fund and be confident that their donation will impact current and future SLS students,” Streator stated. Streator further noted, “Gifts into endowment funds will be eligible for a match, thanks to Lilly Endowment Inc.’s GIFT VII initiative.” This matching opportunity has generated a great deal of interest and is available only while GIFT VII funds last. Citizens and organizations can take advantage of this opportunity to start new funds or to grow the fund of their choice. The Ripley County Community Foundation is located at 13 E. George Street, Suite B, Batesville, IN 47006, (812) 933-1098 and more information can be found at www.rccfonline.org.
