Dear Camden Catholic High School Community,
I hope this message finds you well and enjoying the slower pace of the summer season. I am writing to you today to announce several new initiatives that are aimed at deepening Camden Catholic’s already strong commitment to our educational mission of developing the next generation of innovative leaders steeped in the Catholic tradition of mercy.
Before formally announcing these exciting new initiatives I would like to provide background information that demonstrates how these new initiatives are centered in our rich tradition and will position CCHS to grow in service to students and families.
For 137 years Camden Catholic High School has succeeded in cultivating the God-given potential of young minds by providing students with an educational foundation grounded in honor, faith, loyalty, and mercy. From our school’s founding to this very moment, the critical question for the school community to answer has been: How do we heed our call to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ and build the capacity to provide a quality and affordable Catholic education for the many students and families who desire a Camden Catholic education?
The Camden Camden Catholic High School community has answered this critical question with unparalleled success for more than a century. Generations of Camden Catholic students have been provided the life changing opportunity to access our school because parents, administration, faculty, staff, and alumni came together to generously offer their time, talent, and treasure in support of our school. This devoted support was provided through acts of charity that included sharing the story of Camden Catholic with their personal network through face-to-face conversations, devoting their entire life to the vocation of Catholic education by entering the religious life or clergy, and, for parents, monetarily contributing to their children’s education at a tuition rate that was attainable for families willing to reduce their discretionary spending in order to provide a Catholic education for their child.
While our objective remains unaltered, our societal context has changed drastically over the past two decades, and with that change the tools we relied on to successfully meet our objective are no longer as effective as they once were. In a society that is increasingly directing its attention to online peer-to-peer communication, the in-person referral does not go as far as it did in decades past. In an economy that has seen wage growth and the effects of inflation distributed unevenly for decades, more and more hardworking families who desire a Camden Catholic High School education are unable to access our school because the liability of tuition would force the family to decide between achieving the most basic needs of food/shelter or meeting their financial obligation to CCHS. In a U.S. Catholic Church that has seen a decades-long trend of declining vocations, we can no longer rely on altruistic sisters and priests staffing our school to reduce labor costs.
The challenges we face in meeting our objective to offer a quality and affordable Catholic education for the many students and families who desire a Camden Catholic High School education are great, but the spirit, generosity, and passion of the Camden Catholic High School community is far greater. It is my privilege to announce the establishment/re-birth of the following four initiatives designed to celebrate the indelible impact Camden Catholic High School has made on so many and provide a range of options for our community members to “Pay it Forward” for the benefit of current and future generations of CCHS students.
Share the Irish Story: Family Referral Program-Current families will now have the opportunity to share this online form with other families who may be interested in sending their children to CCHS. For each successfully completed referral form, the current CCHS family who made the referral will earn a chance in a drawing for one $6,000 scholarship, one $5,000 scholarship, and one $2,500 scholarship for the 2025-2026 school year.
Sponsor-a-Scholar Program: Modeled after successful national and regional need based scholarship initiatives, the CCHS Sponsor-a-Scholar Program brings together a hardworking family, our school, and the sponsor-a-scholar donor to form a trinity of financial support that provides students the opportunity to strive toward their dreams. The details of our sponsor-a-scholar program are outlined on our website here. Please note that our sponsor-a-scholar program is highly customizable to the affinity of the donor and can be adapted to support students who demonstrate talent in academics, the arts, leadership, or other qualities the donor would like to promote!
Irish Service Brigade: Do you have time and/or expertise you’d like to share with CCHS? Is your firm interested in organizing a day of service with CCHS or arranging an in-kind donation of goods or services? If so, please consider joining the Irish Service Brigade by completing this quick form.
1887 Legacy Planned Giving Society: Have you included Camden Catholic in your will? Would you like to learn more about how to make a bequest to CCHS? Please let us know by visiting this link so we can recognize your generosity and plan for the bright future of CCHS. Planned gifts can be made in honor of a member of the CCHS community who made an indelible impact on your life such as Sister Mary, Tom Kenney, Jim Delaney, Wayne Nystrom, Sister Pauline, Father Bob McDermott, or the individual of your choice!
Any questions about how to get involved can be directed to me at rory.sweeney@camdencatholic.org.
Thank you for taking the time to consider getting involved with any or all of these opportunities to support the current and future success of CCHS. Your decision to pay it forward through gifts of time, talent, and treasure empowers our students to reach their God given potential and become faith filled leaders of tomorrow.
With gratitude and appreciation,
Rory Sweeney, President
Camden Catholic High School