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Ursuline gets $1 million donation
youngstown
YOUNGSTOWN
Ursuline High School has received a gift of $1 million from an alumnus and his wife.
The gift came from the Robert and Mary Ann Kaminski Family Foundation. Robert Kaminski is a 1954 Ursuline graduate and his wife, Mary Ann, is a Youngstown native who graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School. The money went to the school’s financial assistance program and will create a permanent scholarship fund for needy single-parent families of students attending the school.
“This impressive act of generosity by Mr. and Mrs. Kaminski advances the affordability of an Ursuline education for a substantial and underserved constituency, struggling single parents/grandparents in the Mahoning Valley who otherwise might not be able to afford our tuition,” said the Rev. Richard Murphy, Ursuline High School’s president.
The money will help provide $40,000 per year in annual assistance through the Kaminski Foundation Fund that is part of the Ursuline endowment.
“This gift is of historic significance. We hope others who see the worth of our mission will be moved to join the Kaminskis in support of our 108-year educational legacy in the Valley,” said Father Murphy.
The school is thrilled to receive a donation from someone who wants to make Catholic education in Youngstown a priority, he said. This gift will make a difference in the lives of children who parents might have wanted them to receive a Catholic education, but might not have been able to financially afford it, said Carolyn L. Korenic, director of alumni and advancement for Ursuline.
“This gift was truly given in the spirit of the season. [Robert Kaminski] told us that he was a product of a single-parent family and how hard his mother worked to provide him with a Catholic education,” Korenic said.
Kaminski is chairman/managing partner of Continental Midland, LLC, Park Forest, Ill. The company makes speciality fasteners for various types of vehicles.
Kaminski could not be reached to comment.
It shows something that he came back to his boyhood hometown and boyhood school to give this donation, she said.
“This gift is side-by-side with the largest in Ursuline’s history,” Father Murphy said, not elaborating.
It goes a long way toward Ursuline’s goal of doubling its endowment by the end of 2018, which before this donation was $2.7 million, he said.
“Now with this donation we think we can blow by that figure,” Father Murphy said.
The goal for schools like Ursuline is to have fundraising for endowments similar to what colleges are doing, he said. Generating these endowments will help to secure the school’s future.