Primarily, the Catholic Foundation is defined by the generosity of our donors and organizational fund holders. But while we are, in fact, no greater than any one person who seeks to share his or her blessings, in the aggregate, we can, as a community foundation, become more. Joining together and unifying as a Catholic community in and through the Foundation, we combine our blessings and resources, increase our capacity to grow philanthropy to serve and support our parishes, schools, and Catholic ministries, which positively impacts our West Michigan community and beyond. As new funds accrue to grow our endowment, we all enhance our collective ability to realize the promise of our founders: to be a sustaining resource of generosity for meeting the needs of our Catholic community for all time.

The Kandra Family Endowment Fund, in memory of John and Mary Kandra and Frank and Agnes Kandra
Back in 1989, John Kandra Sr. wanted to begin the tradition of a family golf outing since all six of his children played golf. His hope was to create an annual event that would always bring his children together, even after he passed away. Today, John would be happy to see the family golf outing is still going strong. But what might surprise him is the reason why.

“We can continue to support those individual causes which are important to us, but in a more streamlined way and with a better plan in place. And, more importantly, it will continue to be carried forward beyond our lifetime.” – Patrick Mullally

Made in God’s image and likeness is a common refrain in Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body teachings, an inspiring reminder that we are all beloved children of God. To instill this fundamental belief in the hearts and minds of children, a collaboration between multiple parties brought Theology of the Body lessons to all K-5 classrooms throughout the diocese.