Common Thread: Donors Making An Impact!

Publish Date: December 2023

Generous supporters of the Xavier High School Foundation (including cousins, Bruce Erusha and Peggy Erusha, and the Paul & Hillary Ruffalo family) have created specific donor funds to help support students, faculty, staff, and a variety of programs and activities. We’d like to highlight a few in case you or your family would like to contribute toward one of these funds

Pictured Above: Cousins, Bruce Erusha and Peggy Erusha (with XHS President, Chris McCarville). 

In 2022, the Steve Erusha Employee Relief Fund was created. Named in honor of longtime Xavier supporter and parent, Steve Erusha who passed away in 2022, this fund’s purpose is to help an employee (and/or employee’s family) financially when experiencing an unexpected financial burden. That could mean anything from outstanding utility bills, rent/mortgage payments, repair for a vehicle, or gas/lodging when facing an emergency situation.

Steve’s cousin Bruce Erusha shared the inspiration behind setting up the fund in Steve’s memory. “During the Covid challenges I was introduced to a program at Mercy Medical Center which provided assistance to their employees who were facing unexpected financial emergencies and needed assistance,” he said. “During Steve’s life he and I had varied discussions about the lessons our family and mentors had taught us, and how grateful we were that they willingly shared their time, talents and treasures with us. We also talked about the impact education and church had on our lives, and the many sacrifices teachers, priests, religious orders and school employees make to our community.”

“So after Steve’s passing, I contacted his wife Peggy Erusha and talked with her about establishing a fund at Xavier High School in his memory to assist individuals within the Xavier Community who found themselves facing an unexpected financial need but without the resources to meet that need. Peggy embraced the idea and joined me to help establish an endowment.”

Bruce said the focus of this fund to provide a source for temporary assistance and a small helping hand when a catastrophic financial need arises due to unexpected events such as a sickness, natural disaster or another type of emergency is a wonderful tribute to Steve. “We have all experienced tough financial situations whether it was the flood of 2008, the Derecho in 2020, Covid in 2021, an auto accident, a medical emergency, or a sudden death in the family. etc.  This fund is there to make those times a little less stressful and give the recipient an opportunity to meet the unexpected challenge they face.”

Having this fund available adds to the tight-knit feel of the Xavier Community, he added. “We are continuously reminded by Xavier High School that Xavier is a Community and we are all a part of it,” Bruce said. “This Fund is just one small way we can help…it is a safety net for that person that has no other alternative. We hope this fund will continue to grow and evolve, and my personal hope is the fund will someday be open to families’ of Xavier students and/or employees in all Xavier Catholic Schools.”

In 2023, Hilary and Paul Ruffalo created the Jacob Sires Lead With Your Heart Fund. Named after Xavier graduate Jacob Sires (X23), who had a record setting year being named 5-time Outstanding Male Soloist during his senior show choir season, the fund helps support the costs of the show choir program.

“We were fortunate enough to experience Jacob’s solo from the opening parent performance right through the year-end closer,” said Paul. “Not surprisingly, he improved each and every time, and his clean sweep of the solo awards was genuinely expected. A perfect season deserved a life-long accolade. The fact that his entire family are genuinely beautiful people was icing on the cake for the fund.”

“And while Sires is a generational talent, others will certainly come along,” added Paul. “Our hope is this fund will allow Xavier to continue to grow and support talented performers.”

He noted that the arts need more support, as costs to put the programs together are ever increasing. “We hope these funds open up the door to additional donations so Xavier Show Choir can start making their wishes come true,” he said.

Show Choir Director, Phil Schroetter, was honored to present this newly named fund to the Sires family at the end of season banquet and expressed that there are no shortage of opportunities to leverage this Fund.

While these are a few highlighted Funds, which can be added to by anyone wanting to increase the funds available to help those key areas, there are also ample opportunities to add to or establish funds. For example, the BPA Scholarship, created by Tom and Mary Beth Binder, which offers a Business Professional Association Scholarship intended to pay for a portion, or all, of a current Xavier student’s expense to attend state and/or national BPA conferences. Or the Innovation Fund, created by supporter Steve Adams, which is intended to be used for sparking an interest and/or creating opportunity to elevate knowledge, expertise, or even equipment to better programs in science and activities.

There are more than 50 Named Endowed Scholarships at Xavier, and these are critical in increasing the endowment at Xavier for longtime success. Some examples of endowed named scholarships include James and Brenda Clancy Endowed Scholarship, the Dick and Kitty Breitbach Endowed Scholarship, Will Richmond Memorial Endowed Scholarship, and the Karen Schulte (R75) Endowed Scholarship. These funds help build the endowment and honor special people, and in term allow the Xavier Foundation to provide needed financial assistance to Xavier High School students and their families.

While each donor has an individual motivation for creating a fund through the Xavier Foundation, they each make a lasting impact on the school and its students. They also hope to inspire others to give as well, whether creating their own named fund or contributing to the ones they have created to help support these funds in even bigger ways.