.- A small Catholic girls school, serving a low-income population, got a huge boost recently when an anonymous donor, with no personal connection to the school, left it $2.25 million. This is the largest single donation to a Catholic girls school in the Chicago area, school officials reported Tuesday.
The Josephinum Academy donor, who died recently, was part of a family that donated to the school for several years. The woman was an immigrant with a passion for education, who supported several Catholic institutions, school officials said.
According to the Chicago Sun Times, this donor is just one of a large group of donors who give to Catholic schools although they have no personal ties to the institutions.
"People really believe there is a mission for educating the poor and educating poor minority women," said school principal Joni Thompson. "A lot of people are into the idea of women's education and it's a dying breed."
Josephinum has 180 girls; 86 percent are low-income. To keep tuition affordable, the school has to fund-raise 80 percent of the education costs. The school will use the donation toward its endowment, capital improvements and salaries over the next few years.
