Bishop Emeritus Dale J. Melczek makes a point during his presentation “The Gift of Our Merciful God’s Forgiveness” at St. Paul Church hall in Valparaiso on March 26. His lecture was the final weekly installation of the parish’s Lenten series on forgiveness. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)

In 2008 Bishop Dale Melzcek and the Finance Council of the Diocese of Gary established the Catholic Foundation for Northwest Indiana (originally named the Catholic Foundation for the Diocese of Gary).  Diocesan leadership brought their vision to reality, creating a permanent flow of income for our schools and parishes by establishing local endowment funds within a Catholic Foundation to serve the four counties of Northwest Indiana.   

The early growth of the Foundation was slow.  Several funds that had been established by Bishop Andrew Grutka, the first Bishop of the diocese, were transferred to the Catholic Foundation for Northwest Indiana to provide assistance and scholarships for Catholic high school students and the seminarians of the Diocese. Bishop Melczek supported the Foundation by establishing additional endowment funds in his own name.

Bishop Emeritus Dale Melczek proudly reminisces, “I am a great believer in our Catholic Schools.  What we have in our Catholic schools, no one can duplicate.  I wanted to preserve that.”   Cal Bellamy who served on the Finance Council at that time emphasized that the Council promoted the Foundation “to provide sustainability and serve the mission of the Church through investment in our Catholic parishes.” 

Endowment funds now exist for Nativity School (Portage), Aquinas School (Merrillville), St. Joseph School (Dyer), St. Patrick School (Chesterton), St. Casimir School (Hammond), St. Paul School (Valparaiso), St. Stanislaus Kostka (Michigan City), St. Thomas More (Munster), in addition to scholarships for three Catholic High Schools, and multiple parishes and college scholarships. 

If your Catholic school is listed, you may contact the Foundation to make a donation to an existing account, or if you wish to create a new fund, contact Judy Holicky, Stewardship Coordinator for the Foundation, at 219-769-9292, ext. 268 or email to info@catholicfuture.org

Posted on by CFuture.

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