Big hearts help Big Shoulders support schools

Catholic New World staff writer Michelle Martin talks with Tom Zbierski.

Tom Zbierski spent 17 years as a teacher and administrator at Gordon Tech High School before he got what he calls “the best job in the world.”

Zbierski, associate director and school liaison for the Big Shoulders Fund, visits the 86 inner-city Catholic elementary and 17 high schools supported by the non-profit agency. As such, he keeps the good news about Catholic schools flowing in all directions: from the schools and scholarship recipients to the donors, and from those who want to support the schools back to principals, families and students.

Last year, the Big Shoulders Fund poured about $8 million into needy Catholic schools in the archdiocese, with about $4 million going in direct scholarships to almost 4,500 students and $4 million going to schools for operating and capital expenses. If the 32,000 students who attend schools supported by Big Shoulders were to transfer to public schools, it would cost taxpayers about $265 million a year, he estimates.

 

The Catholic New World: What is Big Shoulders?

Tom Zbierski: It was started 17 years ago by the late Cardinal (Joseph) Bernardin and a group of corporate and civic leaders in Chicago, and many of those people are still involved with us today. The common belief is that had there not been Big Shoulders, there would certainly be a lot fewer inner-city Catholic schools today, because they just wouldn’t be able to make it. That’s what our mission is. Our mission is to provide for the needs of students and families who would like to attend the inner-city Catholic schools. I don’t want to say we’re the total savior, because a certain number of those schools would still be around, but a fair number wouldn’t. Over that time, we’ve given away about $125 million.

It’s a terrific organization with Mr. (James) O’Connor (chairman of the board) and now Msgr. Kenneth (Velo) (the fund’s president). We have about 130 board members.

 

TCNW: To be a board member, you also must be a donor?

TZ: And you have to have a sympathy and understanding about children.

 

TCNW: If I were a parent looking for scholarship money to keep my kids in Catholic school, how would I find out what Big Shoulders has available?

TZ: You probably wouldn’t. We have a policy where we really don’t deal with families directly. The principals are our source of communication with families. That’s really important, because anybody can call us and tell us a sad story—not to say those stories aren’t true. But the principals really know who’s contributed (with time and effort) to the school and all of that.

The principals know how to apply and what to apply for.

 

TCNW: Do certain donors give certain scholarships for certain things?

TZ: Correct. Or we solicit for some scholarships. We have one scholarship for families who have a death in the family or some sort of immediate crisis, and we want to keep those kids rooted in Catholic school. They actually have the least to do in terms of scholarship applications. The principal just writes a letter and says, “This family’s in need.” The other ones, there’s a little bit of paperwork, but we try to keep it minimal. The thing we’re trying to do now is if a family gets assistance from us, we ask that the parent get involved in the school, that they do some sort of volunteer work or something, so that they give something back to the school. We also look over the grades, especially for the students who have renewable scholarships. It is quite possible to lose your scholarship, too. We don’t just want to be free money.

 

TCNW: From the other side, if I were a donor, what could I do besides hand you a check?

TZ: You could do anything you want. For instance, we have a man who came from a Hispanic family with a single mother, so he set up a scholarship for Mexican families with a single parent. We have donors who only want to work in African-American schools, or our Chinese school, or Polish, or Lithuanian. So we do try to match the donors up.

The best thing about Big Shoulders is that 100 percent of every gift is used towards the purpose the donor sets up. We don’t take a cut. So let’s say someone gives us $1,000, we can not only tell them what school it went to, we can tell them what student it went to, and if it’s appropriate, have the student write a thank-you. Then we sponsor receptions where the donors can meet the kids, so they have a sense of who they’re helping.

 

TCNW: Does that help keep the donors involved?

TZ: Oh, very much so. Once they can put a face to their financial gift, they find that it’s so much more rewarding. They get a real sense of “This is what I have done.”

 

TCNW: Tell me about the Patrons Program. Has that been going on for a long time?

TZ: It’s been going on for about three years, but it’s really taken off in the last two years. Currently it’s in 18 of our schools. We have an individual, foundation or corporate donor come in, and they make a commitment of money ($75,000 a year for three years) to a particular school, and they also make a commitment to form an advisory board, and that’s equal to the money in a certain sense. That way, we get a good number of people involved in the school. The cardinal is really supportive of that program.

 

TCNW: Is it hard to find people who can give that much money?

TZ: Not really. We’ve had people contact us and say they’d like to do something with this. People are extraordinarily generous. They contribute time, talent and expertise.

 

TCNW: In general, is it hard to get donors? I read that you can only fulfill two of every seven scholarship requests.

TZ: Mr. O’Connor … and our board of directors, they’re extraordinarily generous to us, with the type of networking they can do on their level. I’m glad I don’t have that responsibility or obligation. They see the need and they go after it. I’m sure it must be very difficult, but they have that sort of passion for it. These are people who could walk away from Catholic schools at some point. Why do they need to be involved? They need to be involved because they believe in it.

We don’t have really deep pockets, but I like to think everybody involved with Big Shoulders has big hearts.

 

To make a donation or learn more about the Big Shoulders Fund, call Zbierski at (312) 751-8365 or write to the fund at 309 W. Washington St., Suite 550, Chicago, IL 60606.