Dear Friends of the South Bend Alumni Association,
This is been a different and challenging year for all of us. But what has not changed is our students’ need for outstanding afterschool programs. The South Bend Alumni Association, with your help, continued to work tirelessly to support our students and our schools. In 2020, we awarded 25 grants for a total of $37,465. High Schools received approximately 65% of the money, middle schools about 22%, and primary schools 13%. In terms of the department, 66% of the funds went to athletics, 29% went to the arts, and 5% was awarded to academic groups. Since 2014, we have made 231 Co-Ex Grants totaling $326,885!
We awarded money for sports uniforms and equipment, band instruments and sheet music, competition fees, academic clubs, and so much more. In return, our students completed community service to “payback” their grant, which has never been more important than it was this year. Students collected food and supplies for local food banks and animal shelters, created online educational workshops, hosted virtual 5k races and free outdoor concerts for the community, and picked up trash around their schools. They didn’t let a global pandemic or virtual learning keep them from making an impact on our community, and we could not be prouder of their efforts.
We also awarded $28,000 in scholarship awards this year in the form of our TCU Superintendent’s Scholarship and our Jack Champaigne Scholarship. We will continue to work to give students from South Bend Schools the opportunity to attend college and further their education.
We have big goals for 2021 and are looking forward to another successful year. We hope that you join us for our Hall of Fame Dinner in April and our Scholarship Golf outing in July. But more importantly, we hope that you stay connected to the South Bend Alumni Association and continue to support our mission and our schools.
Thank you for a great year!
Susie Brennan, Executive Director
As always, if you would like to contribute to our Co-Ex Grant program to support extracurricular and co-curricular activities in the South Bend schools, please visit our website: southbendalumni.com. We appreciate your generosity!