For one special weekend filled with fun, we come together as one big parish and school community to celebrate. Mark your calendars for Saturday, Sept. 30, when the Drexel Gala will take place, and then Sunday, Oct. 1, when we gather to celebrate the Parish Picnic. These two events are a great opportunity for the community to support and celebrate the mutually beneficial relationship between the school and the parish.
“Coming together as a community is so important whether you have children at the school or not,” says Becca Lepage, one of the organizers for the Parish Picnic. “When the school is thriving, it benefits the whole parish. We have more families coming into the church, our reach as a parish extends to a whole new audience, and it makes our parish more vibrant. We steward our parish well and serve the community no matter what stage of life we are in.
“This whole weekend is just a celebration of what God is doing at the Cathedral and in the school,” she adds. “The school cannot operate well without the stewardship of everyone in the parish. The parish is so intimately tied to the school and life here wouldn’t be the same without the school as well.”
The Drexel Gala had a successful first year in 2022 with a formal event to raise funds for the school. This event was spearheaded by Jill VanTrease and Colleen Calvani.
“The school didn’t really have a major fundraiser, so we got together and ran with this idea of a formal event for people to attend and support the school,” Jill says. “It is an opportunity for fellowship for the adults to get dressed up and enjoy a special night of fun.”
There are table sponsorship opportunities, a wine auction, and a dessert auction.
“The funds go towards specific improvements as the school,” Jill says. “We raised about $60,000 last year and we were able to put those funds towards hiring full-time security for the school, playground improvements, increasing teacher salaries, and more. That was a great success for the first year and we hope to raise even more money this year. This year, there are additional improvements for the school that the money raised at this event will go towards, though they haven’t been decided yet.”
Tickets for the Drexel Gala are $100 per person. There are sponsorship levels from $1000-$10,000 per table. Attendance is limited to 180 people, so get your tickets before they sell out!
Events include a Happy Hour with the priests for the top-tier table sponsors, a formal sit-down dinner, music, and dancing. Desserts, made by the school families, will be available to be bid on during dinner. A wine auction as well as a live auction for special items such as a private dinner with the priests who live at Holy Family are all part of the evening’s activities.
“Everyone seemed to enjoy it last year,” Jill says. “We didn’t have any events like this in our community so it is a fun opportunity to take advantage of! We also realize that an event like this is not something that everyone can attend. So that is why we planned it in conjunction with the Parish Picnic so we can also come together as a community and celebrate the school and parish together.”
On Sunday, Oct. 1, the entire community will have the opportunity to enjoy the Parish Picnic. The picnic will take place at Camp Loughridge with food, games, and hayrides.
“This is a huge push for community building,” says Stephanie Reed, who also helps put together the Parish Picnic. “We want everyone to come together and be able to mingle. Between the school and the parish, we have a large community, and for us to all come together and just celebrate who we are as a community is a wonderful thing. It will be good old-fashioned fun with kickball, four square games, a pie contest, more games, and lots of food. Everything is provided at no cost to those in attendance.”
We encourage all parishioners and school families to attend these great events and build up our Cathedral community. This fun weekend has been thoughtfully planned to support and build relationships within our parish family. Please come take part in the fellowship of these events!