Students create Thanksgiving cards in gratitude of tuition assistance scholarships

Last Spring, the Archdiocese of Newark and the Scholarship Fund for Inner-City Children (SFIC) provided 100 students with $1,500 each in scholarship support to assist them in receiving a high-quality, values-based Catholic education for the 2021-2022 school year through the “We Are Living Stones” Catholic Tuition Assistance initiative. Recently, in celebration of Thanksgiving, many of these students sent handwritten “thank you” cards with holiday-themed drawings and personalized notes to the Archdiocese and Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Newark’s Archbishop, expressing gratitude and joy in receiving support to attend Catholic school.

Heartfelt messages mentioned favorite classes or sports, while others described dreams for the future: 

• “I appreciate your donation because it is a very big help to my family. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be coming to this wonderful school.” – David, grade 8

• “The scholarship not only helps pay my tuition, but it gives me the ability to be with my friends, meet great teachers, and learn all sorts of cool things. Thank you for providing this scholarship to the students of the Archdiocese.” – Alyanna, grade 6

• “I just wanted to say thank you so much for giving my parents the help they needed to pay my tuition! My parents and I are so grateful for your generosity! This helps us so much.” – Jacob, grade 4

• “Thank you for helping me get into this amazing school. I have learned basketball and made the team so far this year. I’ve also learned multiplication in math and it’s all because of you. Thank you for what you’ve done for me! – Giovanni, grade 6

• “Jesus teaches us to help others, and you are a wonderful role model. I want to wish you and your family a happy Thanksgiving.” – Jayden, grade 5

• “Every year my family gathers around the Thanksgiving table and tells each other what we are thankful for. This year, I will be thankful for you. Thank you for helping with my education. I love my school!” – Taylia, grade 2

• “Thank you for the scholarship. I’m thankful for giving an opportunity and I won’t let you down. I will become a president one day. I promise.” – Alexis

Created by the Archdiocese of Newark, the “We Are Living Stones” Catholic Tuition Assistance scholarships demonstrate a continued commitment to the future growth of Catholic education. The scholarships provide tuition assistance to Catholic students in grades K-8 attending one of the Catholic elementary schools in cities served by the Archdiocese including Newark, Jersey City, East Orange, Union, and Fairview, and are based on financial need. Scholarships are made possible by the generous contributions of donors who wish to invest in the future of economically-disadvantaged children living in neighboring communities.

To learn more about the “We Are Living Stones” Catholic Tuition Assistance scholarships, visit www.sficnj.org.