News

46 students get support from Florida family foundation

The legacy of George and Mary Kremer extends to schools across the U.S.

Published: August 23, 2016   

By Aprille Hanson
Associate Editor

Aprille Hanson

Denise Troutman, principal of North Little Rock Catholic Academy, said this year’s Kremer grant will go toward school supplies, books and technology for 27 students in need.

Aprille Hanson

Denise Troutman, principal of North Little Rock Catholic Academy, said this year’s Kremer grant will go toward school supplies, books and technology for 27 students in need.

Helping to make Catholic education affordable often starts with people like George and Mary Kremer. Since 1985, the George and Mary Kremer Foundation, based in Naples, Fla., has provided grants to kindergarten to eighth-grade schools throughout the country to pass along to students most in need of tuition assistance.

This year, four Arkansas schools received up to $10,250: St. Edward School in Little Rock, St. Theresa School in Little Rock, North Little Rock Catholic Academy and St. Paul School in Pocahontas.

“If they were alive today, I do know that they know, I think they’re just in awe of how big it’s gotten,” said foundation executive director Mary Anderson Goddard. “ … They were two very unique individuals that came into a lot of money yet they always remembered their roots and always sympathetic to the common working-class people.”

Both Catholics, the Kremers were looking for a way to give back after George Kremer sold his company — he was an inventor who created the first semi-permanent hair dye — to Revlon in 1978, Goddard said. A light bulb went off, Goddard said, when the couple donated to a local Catholic elementary school when they were told some students wouldn’t be able to afford to stay.

Since most Catholic schools do their best to work with families to avoid turning anyone away based solely on a lack of money for tuition, grants like those from the Kremer Foundation make it easier to accommodate needy families.

Working with families

“We knew we needed to do something just to help serve our families better to help make Catholic education more available,” said St. Edward School principal LaTonya White.

Tuition costs for Catholics are $4,150 and $5,695 a year for non-Catholics.

“We are just delighted. We are very excited we can help families. It’s a blessing to be able to see the smiles on the faces of families, to help minimize the cost of tuition for them.”

It is the first year for St. Edward to receive the grant and since the application process began last year, eight existing students will split the $10,250 grant and the families have been “very excited and grateful,” White said.

Since the foundation was founded, more than $49 million has been given to more than 40,000 elementary schools, according to kremerfoundation.com. This year, money was given to 446 schools in 47 states across 122 dioceses and archdioceses, Goddard said. It benefited about 4,600 students and schools can reapply year-to-year to again receive the grant.

Students at St. Theresa School in Little Rock, North Little Rock Catholic Academy and St. Paul School in Pocahontas have all benefited from the foundation for at least three years.

“For some of the students attending St. Theresa School this is a life changer,” said principal Kristy Dunn. “We’re not rich, we’re not flashy, but we’re providing them stability, a solid education and a desire to know and love God.”

The schools choose which students would qualify for this scholarship and the parents are then tasked with filling out the required forms.

Dunn said this year seven students will split the $10,250 grant. Catholic yearly tuition is $4,040 and $5,450 for non-Catholics. “A lot of times I’d hear the words, ‘every little bit helps,’” she said of the parents.

Sustaining the faith

St. Paul in Pocahontas, which charges $2,600 a year for Catholics and $3,400 for non-Catholics, will receive about $8,000 to benefit four students.

“You know with the economy every little bit helps. My parents are grateful to help get funding for the kids,” said St. Paul principal Maria Dickson. “It’s a huge blessing. All the tuition money goes to pay for teachers and staff salaries. This is not a for-profit organization; any and every little bit helps. It goes to pay the bills, salaries; if we didn’t have this Kremer foundation grant we might be put in a tight spot. I just feel it’s been a blessing from God that he’s helped us out with this.”

Instead of putting it strictly toward tuition costs for students, North Little Rock Catholic Academy said this year 27 students will receive funding to help pay a portion of their costs for textbooks, supplies and technology.

Principal Denise Troutman said the school was “coming up short” every year in terms of funds.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity because we were having to solicit donations and go into our budget” which instead is provided this year from the $10,200 grant, she said.

Like other Catholic schools, Troutman said they work with parents who can’t afford to send their children to the school.

“I put five children through Catholic schools so I know it can sometimes be a real stress but in turn they help you,” Troutman said of the schools. “… Someone will come up on hard times so we work to assist to them in any way we can.”

Thanks to the Kremer grant, donations have now instead gone toward technology upgrades, Troutman said.

White said being able to provide Catholic education because of  grants and donations is a big part of sustaining the faith well into the future.

“It’s the bedrock of our faith,” White said. “The building blocks of the Church are formed through Catholic schools.”

Click for the Catholic Schools Herald, August 2016 index 

Please read our Comments Policy before posting.