The Catholic Community Foundation of Santa Clara County awarded the first-ever Catholic Impact Scholar Award to Ian da Silva of Bellarmine College Prep. This award is given to a junior who exemplifies the impact that a Catholic high school education has on a student’s future goals and view of the world around them. Each of the local Catholic high schools was invited to nominate one junior student to write an essay answering the question, “How has my Catholic education prepared me to contribute to, engage with and improve my community and the world?” The winner of the award receives $5,000 toward their senior year tuition.

Five of the local high schools submitted a nominee for consideration. “It was extremely difficult to select just one winner,” said Bertha Minnihan, Chair of the Grants Committee. “Each student had a unique perspective on the essay prompt. It was inspiring to read about all of these accomplished young people who are the future of our faith and our community!” After careful consideration, the committee decided on Ian da Silva as the award recipient.

Ian’s activities and accomplishments at Bellarmine include participation in robotics and track (long jump), planning liturgies in Campus Ministry, serving as Vice President of the Black Student Union, lecturing at his parish and working toward becoming an Eagle Scout. In his essay, Ian discussed his faith journey and the role that his high school classes, community, and campus ministry activities, namely the Kairos retreat, played in that journey. While he had always felt close to God growing up, during his freshman year he began feeling his “connection with God slowly weaken.” He continued attending mass, taking religion classes in school, and participating at his parish, however the close connection he previously felt with God and his faith began to fade.

He always enjoyed going on retreats and so decided to attend Bellarmine’s Kairos retreat for junior students. This is when everything changed for Ian. “Kairos taught me how to appreciate the things and people that God has put in my life,” said Ian in his essay. “It was on this retreat that I developed my current image of God: a perfect person who created us in his image, knows all, and can do anything.” Ian felt that the community of students and staff at Bellarmine were key in bringing him back to his faith. “The rigorous academics at Bellarmine have prepared me to be successful in life, while also teaching me that the best way to use this success is for the good of others,” said Ian. “Realizing that my life is not just my own, but for the world, helps me to see that we are all needed to carry the love of God to others…My faith inspires me to give people hope in their hard times and be a friend in their loneliness.”

Missy Scott-Flórez, Director of Campus Ministry at Bellarmine, wrote a glowing review for Ian which described a driven and compassionate young leader. “In this valley, it sometimes seems like people are gripped by fear, feeling that if they do not do this mysterious and illustrious something, they might miss out on a good future. So, they sometimes end up walking around touting the many things they do, like the shield that enters the room ahead of them to prove why they are worthy or powerful. While Ian is a busy person with a full life…he does not present this as his façade. I think he knows that there is something deeper to orient one’s life toward.”

The Catholic Community Foundation is proud to award the inaugural Catholic Impact Scholar Award to Ian da Silva and knows that each of this year’s exceptional nominees has a bright future ahead of them.

Learn more about the Catholic Impact Scholar Award here.

Click here to read this article in Spanish

At the end of August, some members of the Foundation’s Grants Committee visited the Food Distribution Program at Our Lady of Guadalupe. This program received a grant in the 2018 and 2019 Spring Grant Cycle, and the committee was excited to visit this very impressive program. Our Lady of Guadalupe distributes fresh produce and food staples to about 3,000 people every month. You read that right, every month. They see about 1,200 per week (some people come more than once a month) which includes an average of 260 families with 730 dependents and about 250 individuals. Food is distributed three times a week and they track not only where these people live (the program aims to serve their local East San Jose community, although if someone comes from a different zip code they are given food and resources about food distribution in their own neighborhood) but also who has already received food that week to ensure that there is enough for everyone.

Did I mention that this program is almost entirely volunteer run? It is a huge, efficiently-run operation and the core group of dedicated volunteers, many of whom have been volunteering for over five years and some for more than fifteen, is what makes it a success. They bring God’s presence and love to the work. They are Jesus’ hands, doing his will and fulfilling his promise to those in need. They do mundane tasks with a smile and greet the clients like old friends, making jokes and exchanging pleasantries.

We met one volunteer who has been working with this program for over 18 years. We met another who works two jobs, one at a fast food chain and one cleaning houses, yet she never misses her shift volunteering at this program on her day off. Any group of people can distribute food to those in need whether or not they have faith. What makes this program special is the volunteers. They bring God into the work and infuse it with His love and mercy, bestowing His dignity on the work and the people being served.

Needless to say, we left feeling inspired. This program is supported by the parish and doesn’t have other sources of funding aside from the occasional grant like the one from the Foundation. While the main source of food comes from their partnership with Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, the volunteers also maintain their own truck for picking up food from local grocery stores who donate some dry goods and other products. They do their best to provide high-quality food to their clients, sometimes giving lesser-quality produce to farmers for livestock so that it won’t be wasted. They try to provide what their clients ask for, but there are some products like baby food that they can’t usually get.

It was a blessing to partake in this joy-filled ministry, even for just one afternoon, and to witness the volunteers’ dedication and love for their work. If you feel inspired to support this program, donations can be made to Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish and designated for the Food Distribution Program. If you would like to volunteer with this program, contact Idania Barousse, the parish’s Pastoral Associate at (408) 258-7057. If you would like to support the Foundation’s Spring Grant Cycle which grants to programs like this one all over the Diocese, visit https://giving.cfoscc.org/spring-match or make a check out to The Catholic Community Foundation of Santa Clara County and write “Spring Grant Cycle” in the memo.

By Marie Galetto-Dugoni

Last year, the Catholic Community Foundation made our first-ever Two-Year Grant to Our Lady of La Vang Parish. The program, titled “One Bread, One Body Ministry,” includes many activities that support people in need both in and outside their parish community. It was a brand-new program, and the Foundation felt that by offering two years of financial support we could help them think about the long-term goals of the program and increase their impact.

This ministry creates a feeling of community and shared mission for Our Lady of La Vang’s parishioners – an important goal for a parish that celebrates 19 masses in seven different locations every weekend. The program aims to help people live out the faith by evangelizing through corporal works of mercy – specifically by reaching out to the less fortunate, the elderly, immigrants, and the homeless community. Read on for a description of the specific activities of this ministry. I’m sure you will be as impressed with their goals and achievements as I am!

Activity #1: Home Visit Team and Home Repair Crew

The parish welcomes many low income and immigrant families. These individuals do not always know how to get assistance from social services, register their children in local schools, or have the means to repair minor things that break in their homes. The program spent the past year recruiting and training volunteers, and they helped six elderly individuals with minor repairs. With the second year of funding, they plan to continue training volunteers and anticipate more request for outdoor repair projects in the summer months.

Activity #2: Transportation to Daily Mass for the Elderly

Our Lady of La Vang has many elderly parishioners who live on their own without a way to get to daily mass. Money from the grant helps pay for the gas to drive parishioners to and from mass. Volunteers drive the van every day, and so far, they provide transportation to 8 to 10 elderly parishioners daily.

Activity #3: Bilingual Citizenship Class

The goal of this program is to provide language and citizenship knowledge classes. Ten volunteers were recruited and trained to assist with the class. Thirty students are enrolled, and classes started in November. Since there are so many volunteers, they split the class into three levels based on English proficiency. There was a recognition event for all students and volunteers in June.

Activity #4: Meals for the Homeless & Christmas Toy Program

The volunteers for the homeless outreach come from the youth and young adult groups of the parish. This is one way for them to practice their faith which they learn about through catechism. In December, the youth distributed 120 Christmas gifts for children in need. During the school year, the youth partner with City Team Ministries to serve hot meals to the homeless once a month.

The grant applicant, Hang Pham, noted that the back-to-back years of funding helped them plan for future improvements to the program with the knowledge that there would not be interruptions in the services between years. “We are able to reassure our clients and volunteers that the services will continue,” said Hang. “Hopefully, after the second year of funding we will have a lot of support and be able to fundraise and become as self-sustainable as possible.”

If you would like to help the Foundation support more programs like this one, please donate to match the grants in our Spring Grant Cycle or contribute directly to one of our Field of Interest Endowments by calling 408.995.5219 or visiting giving.cfoscc.org/DonateNow

Most Holy Trinity

Father Bob Fambrini and Mario Lucas, accountant for the parish, talked about their efforts to use the Deanery structure as a way to bring their neighbor parishes together for programming and support. They applied to the Foundation for three Deanery-wide programs and have done so for many years. These programs reach beyond one individual parish’s boundaries and monetary means to impact people throughout East San Jose. For example, the “Deanery 6 Multi-Parish Cooperative Summer Literacy Program” impacted 200 children in East San Jose last year and proposes to reach as many this year with the help of the Foundation’s grant. These Deanery-wide programs are great examples of how collaboration among parishes can benefit the entire community.

Saint John the Baptist

The parish has a very active and growing Youth Ministry Program run by the dedicated and enthusiastic Youth Coordinator, Ruben Cardenas. The parish’s newly appointed pastor Monsignor Wilfredo Manrique and Ruben believe in the importance of involving the youth in the faith community from a young age, and the parish’s robust Youth Ministry Program shows that they are putting this belief into practice. With funding help from the Foundation, their program includes weekly meetings, monthly leadership trainings, theology courses, youth socials, adoration nights, liturgical training, retreats, conferences, and Diocesan events. By investing in their youth, Saint John Vianney is investing in the future of not only their parish but the Catholic faith as well.

Saint Cyprian

Father Vincent Pineda grew up in the Philippines, and while his Spanish is passable, he wants to improve his skills. There is an active Hispanic community of more than 200 people at his parish, and since he has no parochial vicars, he often needs to ask priests from other parishes to assist him with Spanish masses. His desire to learn Spanish is great, but his time is limited. His Hispanic parishioners are very open and encouraging when he practices his Spanish with them, and he wishes he had the time to do an immersion trip to really improve his skills. However, due to his responsibilities at his parish, he is going to do the next best thing: one-on-one language coaching. With help from the Foundation’s grant, Father Vincent is able to hire a tutor to improve his skills, so he can effectively preach and minister to his community.

If you would like to help ministries like these, you can contribute to our four Field of Interest Endowments, from which we grant during the Spring Cycle: Apolonia Andre Fund for Liturgical Music, Parish Outreach, Parish Stewardship, and Pastoral Ministry Training and Formation. To donate online, visit giving.cfoscc.org/donatenow

Our Lady Star of the Sea may be one of the smallest parishes in our Diocese, but it has a wonderful and vibrant community.  Star of the Sea has many different parish groups and programs, but the one that consistently brings everyone together is the parish kitchen where breakfast is sold every Sunday after mass for a small fee.

In order to keep hosting the weekly breakfasts, and other events, Star of the Sea needs to completely overhaul the kitchen.  Fr. Hector Basañez already started the long process of the kitchen remodel. The new plans bring the electrical work up to code and the permits from the City are in process. The total cost of $80,000 for the kitchen remodel is quite a large burden for this small community and any help would be very much appreciated. Please consider partnering with us during the Christmas season to assist Our Lady Star of the Sea with their Community Kitchen Project.

To help Fr. Hector build his kitchen, please click here:

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In Support of Education

Amigos de Guadalupe, Center for Justice and Empowerment has a mission to lift the people of the Mayfair Community of East San Jose out of poverty. One of its primary means of accomplishing this task is through education. Most of the families in Mayfair are immigrants who have come here in search of a better life through education.

Consider the story of Gladys, who is a junior at Sonoma State University. Gladys just found out that her financial aid was being reduced by $5,000 annually because her father earned $3,000 more last year than the year before. Gladys was determined to stay at Sonoma State, though she could no longer afford to stay. So, she got another job—her third job—in addition to taking classes. She could not tell her parents because they would have disallowed her to walk 90 minutes each way to get to work. More than that, she left work at 10:30 PM for the walk back to campus. She did not want her parents to worry, and she was determined to finish her degree in Social Work. So she walked.

Gladys has the resiliency to succeed, as do many of the students of East San Jose. They just need the access. The sad fact is that only 2% of the graduating seniors who come from Mayfair will continue on to receive a university education.   It starts in elementary school and before, where only 14% of entering kindergartners enter school reading ready with the pre reading skills they need to be successful.

These children need your help. Support their education by supporting the literacy programs and scholarships Mayfair students need, and Amigos offers, to gain access to the kind of education they desire—the kind that will make them contributing members of society. The picture you see is evidence that with your help, our students can attend universities like University of Chicago, UC Berkeley, St. Mary’s College, and other great CSU, UC, and private universities. Help these students be all they can be. They are willing to do the work, and they will be successful. Just ask Gladys!

In the three years that Amigos has been awarding scholarships, it has provided over $30,000 to entering and continuing college students. In addition, Amigos has provided summer and after-school literacy programs to help students become college and career ready. Help us continue this work.

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“I am so thankful I can get all my needed care at John XXIII,” said Edwin, a chronically homeless 61-year-old who struggles with mental illness and diabetes. Edwin finally secured housing, but he lacked medical care.

For the last 50 years, Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County has served low-income seniors at the historic John XXIII Multi-Service Center in downtown San Jose. More than 1,700 seniors use the facility every year. Some of the services include free or low-cost daily hot or boxed lunches; community and ethnic events; citizenship classes and a variety of wellness activities such as exercise, dancing, tai chi, recreation and meditation.

The Center recently added a valuable component – the integration of behavioral (mental) and physical health services. The physician-managed clinic follows a leading-edge model that breaks down traditional silos between professionals who provide physical, mental health and social services. This holistic and wrap-around approach is a proven method that begins the moment people walk in the door – and results in better health that helps patients live longer, with more dignity and independence.

Today, the health care providers at John XXIII Integrated Health Care Center are working closely together to not only keep Edwin healthy, but well and stable enough to remain in his home.

To help feed, heal and create a healthy pathway of Hope and Opportunity for people like Edwin, please click here:

Catholic Charities’ website

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Our Lady of Refuge provides a number of invaluable services, and one of the most important programs they manage for their underserved community is the All Year Giving Tree.  This initiative, along with their Social Ministry program, provides anyone seeking assistance with a bag of groceries and a grocery store gift card. The Giving Tree runs all year and accepts many types of donations, such as clothes, food, toys, and monetary gifts.  OLR is able to provide about 350 families and individuals with food every month through the generosity of their parishioners.

During this special time of year the community and staff at OLR  like to try and do a little extra for those in need. They buy and collect turkeys and as much extra food as possible to make sure every family has a wonderful meal to share.  Requests for assistance at this time of year are higher than normal, and the All Year Giving Tree needs all the help it can get to provide for its community. Please consider helping the OLR community ensure no family goes without this Christmas season.

To help Our Lady of Refuge provide holiday meals, please click here:

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