Imagine the Impact!
A Message from Our Director of Advancement, Lea Wojciechowski Ross
Breaking news from Chesterton Academy of Our Lady of Guadalupe! A generous donor just challenged our school to raise at least $15,000 by July 1, and that donor would then match the gift, dollar for dollar. I want to tell you how you can help our entire community "imagine the impact" by helping us to match that challenge, go way beyond, and become fully funded and financially free.
My favorite way to imagine the impact of Chesterton Academy is to think of the impact of the future Chesterton Academy graduates. In two years, we will be celebrating the first graduation from our school. Who will those graduates be? What will characterize them? Where will they go and what will they do? Let's say we have 15 young men and women in the graduating class of 2022. 15 may objectively seem like a pretty small number, but imagine that those 15 young professionals are:
joyful
articulate
smart
bold
prudent
virtuous
faithful
skilled communicators
good networkers
confident leaders
wise about what it means to be "in" the world but not "of" the world
on the path to "worldly" success (good jobs; strong families)
determined to offer their time, talent, and treasure to the Church
open to the priesthood or religious life
Imagine Southeast Michigan getting hit in two years with 15 amazing young men and women with the characteristics listed above!! Imagine Southeast Michigan getting hit with 15 amazing young men and women like that every year! Even if some of those graduates move away, wherever they go will be impacted by their characteristics and willingness to serve the Body of Christ. Just a few John Paul II’s and a few Mother Teresa’s would revolutionize our culture.
"The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest" (Luke 10:2). Chesterton Academy is a place and a time to plant seeds and prepare young laborers, passionate disciples, to go out into the Lord's harvest. A few years down the line, each graduate will be setting his or her impact on society into motion. Don't underestimate the power of just one person to make an impact.
Will you be part of the mission and vision of forming Chesterton Academy graduates to go out and change the world? Contact me at leawoj@umich.edu to share your story and your desire for impact, and allow me to share Chesterton’s story and our desire for impact. Of course, we have an online "Donate" button ready for you to click on or you can write us a check, but first and foremost, I'd love to get face to face with you, via Zoom or in person, to share with you more about how your investment will maximize the impact of our vision in action. Together we’ll “imagine the impact” AND set that impact into motion!