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Our Mission:
Recognizing that Catholic education is vital to the future of our Church, the mission of Night of Hope is to make a Catholic education in the Diocese of Phoenix affordable and accessible to those who truly want to bring up their children in a loving, faith-filled environment. We hope to do this by increasing the Diocese’s scholarship endowment fund.
Our Vision:
Night of Hope is an evening celebrating the Catholic schools in the Diocese of Phoenix. By bringing members of every school community together, we want to showcase our common faith foundation while sharing each school’s unique identity. We look forward to an evening that highlights the achievements of our students and is centered around fellowship and celebration.
Our Goal:
The Diocese of Phoenix Catholic Schools currently have an endowment fund of $4.2 million, which yields only about $200,000 each year that can be used for tuition assistance for every school in the diocese. The goal of Night of Hope is to double this endowment so that every school can benefit from the funds available there. (The purpose of an endowment fund is to provide a permanent source of income for an institution. In an endowment, the money donated is invested and only the income from that investment can be used.)
How Can You Help?
Your gift in support of Night of Hope will be a lasting gift to the schools in our diocese. Your gift has the potential to change thousands of lives now and in the future. Your gift will reach into our poorest neighborhoods, giving the endless blessing of a faith-based education to a child who truly needs it. With your gift, you strengthen the legacy given to each of us, ensuring that it will continue for generations to come, opening up the possibilities of a Catholic education for every child.
Our Fund Manager:
The Catholic Community Foundation supports and helps to facilitate the philanthropic goals of many individuals and organizations including Night of Hope and the Catholic Tuition Organization of the Diocese of Phoenix. The Foundation manages parish, school and donor funds as well as planned giving throughout the Diocese of Phoenix. Two of our well-known programs include the Christian Service Awards and our annual competitive grants program. For more information on the Catholic Community Foundation (www.ccfphx.org) please contact them directly at 602.354.2400 or info@ccfphx.org
Guardian of Hope Award:
This Year, Bishop Olmsted will present the Gaurdian of Hope Award to F Michael Geddes. Mr Geddes is being honored for his tireless advance of the ministry of Catholic Education throught the years.
“Mr. Geddes’ leadership of the Today’s Children, Tomorrow’s Leaders campaign has left a lasting mark on Catholic education in our diocese,” Ms. Mueller says. “His service as chairman of that campaign allowed our diocese to move forward confidently, vastly improving the educational opportunities available to our children. The endowment we have today exists because of his efforts as past chairman of the Catholic Community Foundation.”
Besides the Catholic Community Foundation, where he is still an active member of the Advisory Board, Mr. Geddes has served as chair of the Diocesan Finance Council, the diocese’s annual Charity and Development Appeal, and the Bourgade Catholic High School Capital Campaign. He is a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of Notre Dame (where he graduated in 1961), and serves as a director for the School Development Council at St. John Vianney School, Boys Hope Girls Hope, the Dean’s Council at W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and the Economic Club of Phoenix. Mr. Geddes received the Bishop’s Medal of Distinguished Service from the Diocese of Phoenix in 1989.
After graduating from Tucson’s Salpointe Catholic High School, Mr. Geddes went on to Notre Dame and then earned an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. He founded Geddes and Company, a private investment and consulting firm in 1978, after serving for ten years as chief executive officer of AZL Resources, Inc., a publicly traded diversified agribusiness and natural resources company. He is also chairman of several other companies engaged in engineering, consulting, financial services and real estate in several states. He has served as a director of six publicly traded companies.
“It is fitting to have Mike Geddes be our first Guardian of Hope,” Mrs. Mueller says. “He is a living example of how one man, working for the good of others, can change the world for the better.”
