FINANCIAL DISTRICT — Futures in Education’s Annual Scholarship Fund Dinner on Tuesday, April 30, raised more than $1.5 million through benefactors moved by the story of how the program helps a widow and her family.
Futures in Education helps pay tuition at Catholic schools and academies in the Diocese of Brooklyn. Longtime supporters help ensure that opportunity for some 3,000 students. The annual gala drew an estimated 740 attendees, who filled the grand ballroom at Cipriani Wall Street.
Deacon Kevin McCormack, the diocesan superintendent of schools, said May 1 that the Futures staff was still crunching numbers from the event. But, he added, early reports indicated the total would be well above the $1.5 million already counted Tuesday night.
Msgr. David Cassato, vicar for Catholic schools, said the proceeds show that “every bit helps to make it all happen — putting the work of Futures in action.”
As proof, he referred to the story of Allison Torre, mother of four, who delivered the parent speech before the event’s Angel Auction. She told how her husband, Charlie, collapsed during a family vacation in July 2022.
As paramedics tried to revive him, she prayed for a miracle, “but God doesn’t promise miracles,” she said.
“God does promise to help us through it,” she said. “And carrying this grief is worth every moment of knowing my husband.”
She told how her husband dreamed of sending their three youngest children to the Catholic school at their parish, St. Adalbert in Elmhurst. The couple’s eldest son already attended Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School in East Elmhurst.
But after her husband’s death, she knew she couldn’t afford to send the younger children to school at St. Adalbert. Still, God made a way through Futures in Education’s Angel Program.
Now the children are thriving at St. Adalbert’s Catholic Academy, and her husband’s hopes are realized. One daughter, Olivia, also spoke, and she shyly thanked the audience and said she one day wants to be a teacher.
“I thought it was the most serious moment of the night,” Msgr. Cassato said of the mother’s speech. “If that doesn’t pull on your heart, I don’t know what will. She really showed the difference that Futures makes.”
The Angel Auction, handled by auctioneer Howie Schwartz, raised $250,390 from attendees texting their pledges with their smartphones. A thermometer projected on large video screens showed mercury rising toward the goal.
The event also honored two men for their different philanthropic paths to championing Catholic education — Salvatore LaRocca, president of global partnerships for the NBA, and Donald Gelestino, the president and CEO of Champion Elevator Company.
Deacon McCormack noted that this was the first Futures in Education fundraiser that recognized 50 longtime educators in Diocese of Brooklyn schools.
David Ushery, NBC 4 New York anchor, was master of ceremonies. Bishop Robert Brennan gave the invocation. Also attending was Bishop Emeritus Nicholas DiMarzio.
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