Benefactors add to Juan Diego scholarship fund

Intermountain Catholic

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Lindsay and Laura Atwood present a check for $30,000 to the Msgr. Terence Moore Scholarship fund at the Spiritus Donorum Dinner on Nov. 29.

DRAPER – Each year, Juan Diego Catholic High School hosts its Spiritus Donorum Dinner to honor ‘those who exemplify the spirit of giving,’ according to the invitation.

This year, one couple was singled out of the crowd, as Lindsay and Laura Atwood presented a $30,000 check to Juan Diego Principal Galey Colosimo for the Monsignor Terence Moore Scholarship Fund to match an additional $30,000 that was raised by the community.

"The Atwoods had created the Msgr. Moore fund in 2008, the first donor to make a pledge to help us leverage a match from Patrick Byrne," said Molly Dumas, Juan Diego’s director of Institutional Advancement/public information. Byrne’s challenge and the matching funds raised $1 million for the school.

"The Msgr. Moore fund, which helps Catholic families who demonstrate need, fills the tuition gap they are unable to pay at Skaggs Catholic Center schools," Dumas said. "It’s invested at the Catholic Foundation, but is temporarily restricted. The fund will top $300,000 before Christmas" and helped 10 students this year.

"I embrace education," Lindsay Atwood said. "I feel that’s a gift that continues to go on forever, that affects not just this generation but every generation in the future."

The couple was asked if they wanted something in their name after the first large donation, but they chose instead to name the fund after Msgr. Moore, Laura Atwood said.

"Msgr. Moore has impacted our lives in a very positive way," said Lindsay Atwood, a member of Saint John the Baptist Parish. "He’s a saint to me."

In addition to helping others, the fund is meant to teach his children the meaning of giving, he said. "I want them to understand what giving is about and how it impacts other people."

He hopes that his youngest daughter, now a senior at Juan Diego, will take a seat on the fund’s board after she graduates so she can help select the students who receive the scholarship, he said. "This is what it’s all about. Giving back. People just need to learn to give back more than anything else. It creates the future."

In his remarks while presenting the check, he added, "We’re just fortunate enough to be in a position to do something like this. It’s really an honor for Laura and I to be able to give and to thank you all for participating."

Having the challenge to match the donation helped generate enthusiasm for the annual fundraising, Dumas said. "It’s been a tough year, but that was the thing that people really responded to. What people like was they gave something they could have it matched then it doubled their contribution."

Many people who donated are St. John parishioners who know Msgr. Moore and wanted to honor him, but others feel close to school families who have lost their jobs or have had an illness in the family that adds an extra financial burden so they can’t afford to continue to send their children to the schools in the Skaggs Center, Dumas said. The donors "wanted to be part of helping those families stay here. To them it was a shame if we had any kids leave."