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Northeast Catholic Alumni Memorial Scholarship

The History of the Memorial Scholarship Fund

The Fund was founded on April 30, 1968, by then Alumni Association President Leonard F. Knobbs, '53, to award tuition assistance grants to graduating seniors from NECHS to attend Allentown College of St. Francis deSales (now deSales University). The Fund was granted Articles of Incorporation by Common Pleas Judge Edward J. Griffiths on January 22, 1969. On February 13, the IRS granted the Fund tax exempt status as a charitable organization. The Fund is administered by a Board of Trustees consisting of all past presidents of Northeast Catholic Alumni Association, Inc. In 1973, the Board of Trustees expanded the number of colleges to also include LaSalle, St. Joseph's, Villanova, and St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. A major change was enacted in 1977 when the Trustees established grants to be awarded to the son/daughter of a dues paying alumnus to attend one of the approved colleges and a grant was established to partially underwrite the tuition of a Freshmen entering Northeast Catholic High School. Over the years, the number of tuition assistance grants and their annual value was increased until in 1992 the Fund was awarding $106,000 annually to four college students and twenty-one Northeast Catholic students. Faced with the threatened closure of Northeast Catholic, the Board of Trustees responded by suspending future college grants and increasing the number of tuition assistance grants awarded to incoming Freshmen at NECHS to 57 with an annual value of $165,000. By 2008, the Trustees had increased the value of the grants being awarded to $250,000 annually to incoming Freshmen at NECHS. With the closure of Northeast Catholic High School in 2010, the Board of Trustees made the following changes. Grants would be awarded to the children and grandchildren of dues paying members of the Alumni Association. In 2010, the grants were valued at $250,500 annually. In 2013, the grants were increased to $261,000 annually; and in 2016 to $300,000 annually. Commencing with the grants awarded in 2018, $500,000 in grants were awarded as follows: Four grants of $32,000 each to attend specific universities/colleges; Five grants of $20,000 each, five grants of $16,000 each, five grants of $12,000 each, and five grants of $8,000 each to attend specific high schools; and three grants of $9,000 each, four grants of $6,000 each, and three grants of $3,000 each to attend specific parochial grade schools. For complete details on the schools and eligibility requirements go to the News page. The Scholarship Fund evolved again in 2022. Scholarships will be offered to children, grandchildren and now great-grandchildren of current dues paying members of the Northeast Catholic Alumni Association. Furthermore, as of 2023, these grants will include ALL Catholic schools, such as Private Catholic Elementary, High Schools and Universities. Also added are Regional Catholic Schools and Independent Catholic Mission Schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and the Diocese of Camden and Trenton. The college and high school grants are payable over four years in equal semi-annual installments and the grade school grants over three years in equal semi-annual installments directly to the institution on the students' behalf. Since its inception, the Fund has expended in excess of $6.3 million in helping young men and women further their Catholic education. The bulk of this, over $3.16 million went to underwrite tuition for students at Northeast Catholic High School. Among the other Catholic educational institutions that have been major recipients are: LaSalle, Holy Family, DeSales, and St. Joseph Universities; Roman Catholic, Father Judge, Little Flower, and Archbishop Ryan High Schools; and Our Lady of Port Richmond, St. Cecilia, St. Christopher, and St. Jerome parochial grade schools. Students at eleven colleges, twenty-one high schools, and forty-one parochial grade schools in the Philadelphia, Camden, and Trenton Dioceses have received tuition assistance. Tax deductible donations may be sent to the Fund at P. 0. Box 7005, Philadelphia, PA 19149-0005.

Request a Grant Application

The Scholarship Application request period has ended for the 2023-24 school year.  Please check back toward the end of 2023 for the application request form for the 2024-25 school year.  Remember, the person requesting a scholarship application must be a living dues paying member of the Northeast Catholic Alumni Association, and the student must be in 6th grade for the Grade School scholarship, 8th grade for the High School scholarship and 12th grade for the College scholarship when the application is submitted.

Memorial Scholarship Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees of the Northeast Catholic Alumni Memorial Scholarship is comprised of current and former Presidents of the Northeast Catholic Alumni Association.  The current members include the following:

Chairman:
Treasurer:
Trustees:
Robert J Kensil Jr '74

Stephen A Cardullo '72

James W Bollendorf '73
Patrick J Boyle '49
Jeffrey W Brown '79
John J Hanejko '65
Rocco G Iacone '55
Thomas P Morgan '64
John T Musial '63
Albert P Waskiewicz '79
Raymond P Zegarski '59
 Grant Winners
College Grants

2022

Nathan Crompton

$32,000

From Archbishop Ryan HS to Holy Family University

2022

Gabrielle Dugan

$32,000

From Little Flower HS to LaSalle University

2022

Michael McGerry

$32,000

From Father Judge HS to Holy Family University

2022

Connor McKnight

$32,000

From Holy Cross HS to Holy Family University

2022

Patrick McLaughlin

$32,000

From Archbishop Ryan HS to Holy Family University

2021

Hannah Dolan

$32,000

From St Basil Academy to Holy Family University

2021

Chloe Dolan

$32,000

From St Basil Academy to Holy Family University

2021

Samson Gerner

$32,000

From Holy Spirit HS to Rosemont College

2021

Kathryn McCole

$32,000

From Hallahan HS to St Joseph's University

2021

Brianna Wojnar

$32,000

From Holy Cross HS to Holy Family University

High School Grants

2022

Christopher DiPasquale

$20,000

From St Matthew to Father Judge HS

2022

Thomas McGerry

$20,000

From St Katherine of Seina to Father Judge HS

2022

Cara Mott

$20,000

From St Christopher to Little Flower HS

2022

Isabella O'Connor

$20,000

From St Matthew to Archbishop Ryan HS

2022

Aislin Slook

$20,000

From St Katherine of Seina to Little Flower HS

2022

Sean Cahill

$16,000

From Our Lady of Calvary to Archbishop Ryan HS

2022

Jessica Helder

$16,000

From St Margaret Regional School to Paul VI HS

2022

Brendan Kelly

$16,000

From St Dominic to Father Judge HS

2022

Jessica Long

$16,000

From St George to Archbishop Ryan HS

2022

Sophia Markley

$16,000

From Franklin Towne Charter School to St Hubert HS

2022

Alyssa DiNezza

$12,000

From St Cecilia to Archbishop Wood HS

2022

Jeffery Kolakowski

$12,000

From St Jerome to Father Judge HS

2022

Matthew Sears

$12,000

From St Matthew to Roman Catholic HS

2022

Grace Smith

$12,000

From St George to St Hubert HS

2022

Luke Thomas

$12,000

From MAST Community Charter School to Father Judge HS

2022

Michael Rossi

$8,000

From St Cecila to Father Judge HS

2022

Austin Synder

$8,000

From First Philadelphia Charter to Father Judge HS

2021

Alexa Harr

$20,000

From St Laurentius to Little Flower HS

2021

Hayden Johnston

$20,000

From St Laurentius to Little Flower HS

2021

Aiden Kain

$20,000

From St Katherine of Siena to Father Judge HS

2021

Kevin Szychulski

$20,000

From Maternity BVM to Father Judge HS

2021

Kelly Walsh

$20,000

From St Christopher to Archbishop Ryan HS

2021

Katie Crompton

$16,000

From St Martha to Archbishop Ryan HS

2021

Michael Dunbar III

$16,000

From Stephen Decatur to Father Judge HS

2021

Tierney McGovern

$16,000

From St Christopher to Archbishop Ryan HS

2021

Francis Schick

$16,000

From St Katherine of Siena to Father Judge HS

2021

Christopher Somers

$16,000

From Blessed Trinity to Father Judge HS

2021

Leo Hoffmann

$12,000

From Franklin Towne to Father Judge HS

2021

Kaiden Laverty

$12,000

From Our Lady of Calvary to Father Judge HS

2021

Connor McLaughlin

$12,000

From St Martha to Archbishop Ryan HS

2021

Kathleen Sortino

$12,000

From Our Lady of Port Richmond to St Hubert's HS

2021

Cecelia Zaleski

$12,000

From St Matthew to St Hubert's HS

Grade School Grants

2022

Jack Szychulski

$9,000

Maternity BVM

2022

Brendan Smith

$9,000

Our Lady of Calvary

2022

Joseph McGerry

$9,000

St Katherine of Seina

2022

Kevin Wojnar

$6,000

St Charles Borromeo

2022

Brendan Vena

$6,000

St Jerome

2022

Avery Harr

$6,000

St Laurentius

2022

Koko Hane

$6,000

St Thomas the Apostle

2022

Cole Roberts

$3,000

Holy Innocents

2022

Scarlett Mendys

$3,000

St George

2022

Richard Dempsey

$3,000

Our Lady of Calvary

2021

Michael Szychulski

$9,000

Our Lady of Calvary

2021

Cole Kelly

$9,000

St Jerome

2021

Emma Hand

$9,000

St Jerome

2021

Sydney Schick

$6,000

St Katherine of Siena

2021

Evan Pyfer

$6,000

St Katherine Drexel

2021

Samantha Hand

$6,000

St Jerome

2021

Savannah Delaney

$6,000

Our Lady of Good Counsel

2021

Madelyne Holmes

$3,000

St Ephrem School

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