Page 10 - 2019-20-AnnualReport

needs are going to be met,” Carrie said. In awe of the generosity
“Cor Jesu was her dream, and I couldn’t
have imagined telling her, once she
was accepted, that she couldn’t go.”
In just a short time, the Mitchells have
felt the special spirit of Cor Jesu. From
the beginning, Carrie received notes
from multiple Cor Jesu employees
assuring her of their prayers for her
recovery, and in every meeting with
the administration, she and her
family felt supported and loved.
The Mitchells are proud to be part of
the Cor Jesu community and all three
cannot wait to continue to get involved
with everything CJA has to offer.
“I love that Claire will be more than
just a student at Cor Jesu,” Dan said.
“She wants to be involved, and I
know this will be her second home.”
As for Claire, she is excited to be
challenged in the classroom, especially
in math, and to possibly try new
sports. She hopes to be an architect
and is looking forward to participating
in exp3 Day and other Corporate
Partners Initiative experiences to
explore that career path. And, thanks
to the anonymous Class of 2024 donor,
her plans will not be interrupted.
“I promise to make you and Cor
Jesu very proud,” Claire said in a
thank you note to the donors.
Carrie and Dan want the donors
to know that not only will Claire,
and the entire Class of 2024 make
them proud, but that the donors
will never be forgotten.
“This couple must believe
in what this school does
for these young girls and
their faith,” Dan said.
“And we want them to know
that we will pay it forward
when we can,” Carrie said.
8 | FY 2019-20 DATES: JULY 1, 2019-JUNE 30, 2020
of the donors, the
Mitchells had some
questions they also
wanted to ask the couple.
Below is a Q&A that
CJA facilitated with the
donors on the Mitchell
family’s behalf.
1) Why give to Catholic
education?
With the state of Catholic
education and the challenges
it faces, we like the idea of an
experiment of affordability vs.
accessibility/desirability. We want
to make it possible. Wage growth
has been flat, but costs aren’t.
CJA does a great job of keeping
costs down, but something
has to give. It was to see what
impact making affordability a
non-issue could have on interest.
2) What was your experience that
made you want to give back?
People who have had success
often underestimate how
lucky they’ve been, and we try
not to. A lot of things broke
the right way for us, and we
want to keep a balance.
3) What do you see in these
students, whom you have
never met, that made you
want to give?
We see a school community
that is a rich tapestry of young
women. The fact that this offer
could add to the richness of
diversity on multiple levels –
be that by zip code, race,
ethnicity or socioeconomic
background – is exciting. We
really love these outcomes
because St. Louis has its
issues. This is a mini step
in a good direction.