Category Archives: Category: Fundraising

The Inner City Foundation for Charity and Education: $60,000 Tuition Support!

| July 30, 2021

Shepherds has been a beneficiary of the Foundation’s generosity going back to our founding in 1998. ICF’s funding to Shepherds is relatively unique among our community and corporate foundations as it allows for funding for tuition expenses. Each year’s grants specifically goes to supplement tuition commitments we make to our partner schools.

Earlier this year after over thirty years of support to scores of charitable organizations in Fairfield County, the ICF Board decided to wrap up the Foundation’s mission and distribute its remaining assets.  This year’s funding is intended for multi-year deployment in support of 3-5 Shepherds students for their full four years of high school. Thank you Inner City Foundation for Charity and Education for this year’s grant and your many past years of generosity to Shepherds students. We hate to see you go!

Without support from organizations like Inner City Foundation for Charity and Education, Shepherds would be unable to achieve our mission of Changing Lives…One Student at a Time.

Congratulations to the Class of 2021

| June 15, 2021

The Shepherds Class of 2021 is filled with 17 talented students: a salutatorian, a senior class president, many honor roll students, competitive athletes, engaged community members, entrepreneurs, and above all, high school graduates. These graduates have amazing plans for themselves post-graduation. Watch the video above to find out more.

Shepherds wants to continue to help close the opportunity gap in Bridgeport and New Haven. We are asking for your financial support to help us make an impact in your own backyard.

A donation in support of a Shepherds Student’s education TODAY will have a lasting impact on that student’s TOMORROW.

Please consider a donation in any amount. We are so thankful for you and so are our students.

April Letter from Dan McAuliffe

| April 15, 2021
director announcement

Dear Shepherds Friends,

The month of April normally brings many positive themes to our attention –  longer days, warmer sun, birds chirping early in the morning, and a budding optimism for the coming months. This year obviously brings all those normal occurrences but with the added cautious optimism of a world recovering from a pandemic health crisis.

For our Shepherds students and community, this spring also brings the opportunity to be back in the classroom more, to engage in team sports, and for students and mentors to see each other in outdoor settings.  We again congratulate our students, their families, mentors, our school partners for the good faith effort all put into making this past year as successful as one could hope.

With that renewed sense of optimism and self-confidence, it’s time to call upon on this collective strength of the Shepherds community to help build for the school year 2021 – 2022.  As you might realize from the financial and personal repercussions of the last year, the need for a quality education in a safe environment, for a positive role model in the life of a young person and the support of an organization where the 14 year old high school student is the “franchise player” has rarely been greater.

What I am asking is simply to invite our Shepherds family to spread the word about what Shepherds does, the opportunity it provides to underserved individuals, the impact it makes “changing lives”, and the rewards it bestows on students, mentors and donors alike.  Being part of the Shepherds team does require tangible effort and resources; the rewards, however, are immeasurable intangibles!

We are now interviewing over 15 students and expect more to be seeking to participate in Shepherds’ Class of 2025.  We are seeking mentors and financial resources to meet that demand. The Shepherds’ story sells itself. Thank you for passing it along.

With your assistance we can again prove that We are Better Together, in every sense and application of those words.

Be a Part of the Solution

| November 19, 2020

The pandemic has shined a light on socio-economic disparities in education in Connecticut. Per the CT Mirror, this Spring during the COVID-19 shutdown of schools “In Bridgeport, a full half of the student body didn’t show up regularly for remote schooling during the pandemic compared to 19% who were chronically absent before school buildings closed.” Likewise  in New Haven, public school district leadership told the State Education Accountability Committee, that during the first week of remote learning this fall an estimated 65% of the students participated. As a point of comparison, Fairfield Warde and Ludlowe High Schools had participation rates in the 90+% this September per CT Data.

Now more than ever, inner city high school students have more barriers to accessing a quality, college preparatory high school education. For 22 years, Shepherds has been addressing educational disparities in Fairfield and New Haven Counties. Our track record speaks for itself. 95% of our students graduate on time and 90% attend institutes of higher learning after high school, as compared to their public school peers graduation rates of 65-75% and college entrance rates hovering around 60%.

The needs of inner city high school students in Connecticut are greater than ever. With a donation to Shepherds today, you will be investing in a student’s future and helping solve the education opportunity gap right in your own backyard.

Thank You Heisman Trophy Trust

| October 15, 2020

In an exceptionally challenging year for nonprofits, Shepherds is extraordinarily grateful for a recent contribution from the Heisman Trophy Trust. Their generous gift will help fund tuition and programing for Shepherds students at Notre Dame West Haven High School.

Thank you to the Trustees of the Heisman Trophy Trust for your continuing your long-standing commitment to Shepherds and our students.

Thanks to the generosity of many individuals and foundations, like the Heisman Trophy Trust, Shepherds has been helping close the educational opportunity gap in Connecticut’s inner cities for 22 years.

Notre Dame West Haven Alumnus Gives Back

| June 19, 2020
giving back

This is NDWH ’11 Mike DeChello’s second time as a mentor. “A few years ago, my father’s friend, Mark Milano, reached out to me and told me about Shepherds and that mentors were needed,” said Mike.

That conversation with his father’s friend was an ah-ha moment for Mike, “After college, I realized that there was still an opportunity to help the community I love – Notre Dame.”

Jalanni was the first student he mentored. An outstanding Notre Dame basketball player, he attends Canisius College and plays on their basketball team. “I remain in touch with Jalanni. He is a good kid and really took advantage of the opportunities he was given.”

Now Mike mentors Alan L. (ND ’22). “I’m a strong advocate for his success. I’m encouraging him to pursue club activities and improve his grades while at ND. Alan is a great soccer player and I enjoy watching him play. We really also enjoy just hanging out.”

When Mike was told he was one of the youngest mentors Shepherds has had at Notre Dame, he was surprised. “Being a Shepherds mentor to an ND student is an enjoyable experience. It is the natural extension of what I learned at ND and a great way to make a direct impact on fellow ND brother.”

Executive Director of Shepherds, Dan McAuliffe agrees, “We need more men like Mike to mentor our Shepherds’ students at Notre Dame. We need five  mentors and sponsors for incoming Notre Dame freshmen that are a part of the Shepherds program.”

If you’re unable to participate as a mentor this year, the need is equally great financially to support the Shepherds program. To find out more about the role of mentoring a Shepherds student or how to support the program financially, email info@shepherdsmentors.org, or call Dan McAuliffe at 203-367-4273 or click the link below to find out more.

Join Mike DeChello in helping achieve Shepherds’ mission of Changing Lives…One Student at a Time., Notre Dame West Haven.

Ways You Can Help Shepherds Students

Looking to the Future and How You Can Help

| June 8, 2020

As we look back to Fall and all that has changed since then, Shepherds is still steadfastly planning for the future. The need for the support Shepherds provides socio-economically and academically challenged high school students has not diminished during this health crisis. In fact, it has highlighted the need even more.

See how you can help change the life of a high school student.

 

Become a Mentor to a NDWH Freshman

| June 1, 2020
Mentor a student

It has been six years since Mark Healey and Celia Pinzi became mentors to NDWH ’18 student Reuben Clark. Shepherds spoke to Mark and Reuben recently to ask about how being in the Shepherds’ program impacted them.

“It has been an absolute joy to watch Reuben change from a shy young freshman, to the accomplished college student, college football player and entrepreneur he is today,” stated Mark. “I got a lot more out of being Reuben’s mentor than I realized. Reuben and I still talk and get together. Recently, I reached out to him during the protests about social, racial and economic inequalities. I wanted him to know that Celia and I support him.”

Reuben attends Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is currently taking three summer classes and has started up one e-commerce business selling jewelry, created a business that repairs cell phone screens and is in the process of rebranding a clothing line he created. “Mr. Mark really helped me with time management and taught me how to network,” claimed Reuben. “They are like family to me. I love them to death.”

When asked what they would tell a person who is considering becoming a mentor, both had similar answers. “If you want to help shape the life of a young man, become a pillar of support and create genuine change in his life, become a Shepherds mentor to a NDWH student,” said Reuben. Mark agreed, “It is so satisfying that I played a part in Reuben’s growth. It is amazing that a couple hours a month can have such an enormous impact on a young person.”

Shepherds needs five mentors for the upcoming freshman NDWH class. Join our team of caring mentors to make a positive impact on a Notre Dame man this Fall. To find out more, contact Dan McAuliffe at 203-367-4273 or info@shepherdsmentors.org.

Be a Part of the Solution

| May 29, 2020
Reuben

For over 20 years, generous donors have provided the ability for under-served but motivated young men and women like Reuben to be part of the Shepherds program.

This year, your participation in making that possible is more critical than ever.

Shepherds has a goal of bringing on 12 new students into our program this fall. To achieve this, we need to raise $60,000 by June 30th. Generous support from donors has brought us to $44,000 so far. With only a handful of days to go before our fiscal year ends, we are still $16,000 short of our goal.

You’ve probably thought “How can I make a difference in these highly unusual times in which we find ourselves?” Shepherds provides that opportunity.

Please consider making a generous donation today via PayPal or by mailing a check to Shepherds, P.O. Box 1756, Darien CT 06820.

Thank you for supporting more students like Reuben. Be part of the solution and help Change Lives.
Dan McAuliffe
Executive Director
Changing Lives…One Student at a Time.

Shepherds 2018-19 Annual Report

| March 20, 2020

This Annual Report presents the intersection of the numbers, events, and the people that define Shepherds’ mission in action.

We are proud of the accomplishments of our students and the role Shepherds plays in supporting them. We invite you to read our Annual Report and hope it inspires you to support our mission by becoming a mentor or financially support our program. To find out more, contact Executive Director Dan McAuliffe at info@shepherdsmentors.org or call 203.367.4273

Annual Report 2018-2019