St. Louis U High kicked off its Meet the Need campaign last Thursday with a phone-a-thon to raise money to meet the financial need of every student. They raised just a little under $350,000 in 72 hours.

The phone-a-thon, despite being part of the Meet the Need campaign this year, has existed for decades and has evolved over the years to become a large event that draws many alumni.

“We had alumni back from 1950 all the way to 2012 or 2013, so it was a big range,” said Director of Annual Giving John Penilla. “There were a couple of classes that were missing, but most classes had at least some representation there, and then there were some current parents in attendance as well.”

The Advancement office realizes that it can be hard to ask for money.

“The idea has always been ‘hey, this is a party.’ Most people don’t like asking people for money, even though it is about supporting the students and SLUH, but it’s definitely outside of most people’s comfort zone and so we thought, let’s make this a fun celebration. It’s not a phone-a-thon but a reach out to our alumni,” said Penilla.

“It’s never fun to ask people for money, but when it’s for a good cause it’s a lot easier,” added Sean Sullivan, Class of 2012 and volunteer at the phone-a-thon. Volunteers at the event enjoyed food and free entertainment from the SLUH ImprovBills.  They were also visited by members of the Executive Committee.

“It was a great evening,” said President Alan Carruthers. “There was great energy in the room.”

In addition to the Meet the Need campaign, the phone-a-thon also featured the family of Lee Berra, ’02 presenting the school with a $300,000 scholarship in his honor. Lee died tragically in an airplane accident.   

The event had many purposes.

“Part of it is obviously the big fundraising component. And then there is also a big marketing part of it. To our alumni, to let them know that when you give back to SLUH you’re supporting real students and a real mission,” said Penilla. “There is also a marketing component for admissions so that prospective families see that SLUH will provide for whatever they need to help their son go here. There are a lot of facets to it, certainly fundraising is a big one, but it isn’t the only one.”

In total, SLUH was able to raise $343,000 during the brief campaign.

A large portion of the money raised came from John Stephens, ’77 and his wife, Michele. They originally planned to donate an additional $1,000 for every donation over $1,000 up to a limit of $50,000. After the $50,000 threshold was surpassed early Friday morning, the Stephens were inspired and decided to remove the limit, matching any donation over $1,000. In total, they ended up donating $77,000.

“It was tremendous how he was willing to step up and support us,” said Penilla.

The money raised is used to support the students in the school.

“In the end, the annual fund, scholarships, and endowments are at the core of who we are as a school as far as creating an opportunity for all boys who are qualified academically to getting an education no matter their socioeconomic background and that’s huge. This is a big step in that,” said President Alan Carruthers.

Though the Meet the Need campaign was a huge success, SLUH will still look to make more advancements in their fundraising and contribution to the SLUH community.

“As great as it is to raise $300,000 (for SLUH), there is always more of a need,” said Sullivan. “(Mr. Penilla) does a great job in celebrating our successes, but realizes that there’s still more that we can be doing to help people. The phone-a-thon is an event that puts the spotlight on (Mr. Penilla and the Advancement office) and I realize how impressive they are in getting the alums to be more involved, and we’re all glad to be a part of that.”

“I think Meet the Need is a great hashtag (for the campaign) because it really gets to the core of who we are,” said Carruthers. “We are about pursuing excellence in all things, celebrating Christ’s love through brotherhood and service. We are about faith and community and giving it back to everyone who is academically qualified so we are able to support them.”