MILFORD—On October 11, Bridgeport’s Kolbe Cathedral High School hosted its first annual fundraising golf tournament at the Great River Golf Club in Milford. On a beautiful fall day, the inaugural Kolbe Cathedral Cup drew 88 golfers and raised almost $40,000 for the school. Participants included Board Chair Terry O’Connor, Treasurer Jon O’Herron, Jr. and board members Robert Aufiero, Kevin Grimes, Tom Reilly and John Sites. Also in attendance was former KCHS basketball star Chris Smith who went on to play in the NBA and is still the leading career scorer in UCONN history.
Major sponsors included the O’Herron Family Foundation, Paloian Family Foundation, Kaulbach Charitable Foundation, Maximilian Kolbe Scholarship, Trumbull Taiwan Associates, People’s United Bank and KeyBank. Major donors included Brooklawn Country Club, New Haven Country Club, Race Brook Country Club, Summit Golf Brands, Charles Nemetz, Kevin & Mary Cunningham, Jon & Andrea Maldon, Photo Bourgeoisie and Vazzy’s Restaurants.
“We are thrilled with the first-year turnout and support we received from sponsors, donors and participants,” said Rick Ryan, KCHS Director of Development. “We have always done a lot more with a lot less here at Kolbe so $40,000 will go a long way in support of our critical mission to empower our underserved students with a rigorous education and Catholic values.” The day started with lunch, then golf followed by a post-tournament reception where attendees viewed a newly-produced Kolbe Cathedral video and heard from Principal Camille Figluizzi. Subsequently, a live auction then the announcement of raffle and tournament winners concluded the day.
“Kolbe Cathedral is grateful to all participants and particularly the new friends that we made with our golf tournament,” said Principal Figluizzi, “but I’m especially proud of our students Eliana Baker, Christopher Morel and Exauce Mpoyi who volunteered their time on a day off (Columbus Day) to work at the event. I’m also thankful to the members of the Fairfield Prep and St. Joseph girls golf teams who came out to support our kids and our school.”
About Kolbe Cathedral
Kolbe Cathedral is a small, private, Catholic, college preparatory school located in the heart of Bridgeport. It was formed by the diocese in 1976 by combining Kolbe Boys HS and Cathedral Girls HS. Forty-five years later, it continues to be a much-needed beacon of hope and an instrument of personal transformation for its diverse, multicultural, co-ed student population in “the Hollow” section of the largest and poorest city in Connecticut. Our student body is 45% Black/African American, 43% Hispanic/Latino and 12% White/Asian/Other. In spite of the adverse economic and social conditions, and in stark contrast to the city’s public schools (with high dropout and non-graduation rates), Kolbe Cathedral graduates 100% of its students and boasts a near 100% college acceptance rate. Further, our success is even more impressive in light of the lowest private high school tuition in the state of $8,650 (with 99% of students receiving some sort of financial aid) which is about half of what Bridgeport and Hartford public schools spend per student and with dismal outcomes. The mantra to our students is simple and effective …”Work Hard And Be Nice.”
