A Far South Side Catholic school has met its fundraising goal to stay open another year.
St. Florian School, 13110 S. Baltimore Ave., planned a holiday celebration Tuesday night after collecting $56,000 to keep the Hegewisch neighborhood school open for the 2015-16 academic year.
“We want to share the joy of meeting that goal,” said school board member Dawn Klein-Pilota.
St. Florian was slated to close after the 2013-14 school year because the cash-strapped Archdiocese of Chicago said it could no longer provide a subsidy that the school had depended on the past few years.
After a whirlwind of parent- and staff-led fundraising and cost-cutting to prove that the school could be self-sustaining, St. Florian was able to stay open for the 2014-15 school year. It then turned its attention to raising money to stay open another year.
Donations have come through the generosity of a community that did not want to see the 107-year-old school close, according to parents and the school’s principal, Krista Wilkinson. Money was raised piecemeal via carwashes, bake sales, pledges, vendor shows, a banquet, pancake breakfasts and raffles.
This month, the school also recruited Santa to camp out on the roof of the school to help draw in money.
The school was still about $5,000 shy of its goal when Chicago mayoral candidate Willie Wilson offered to write a check for the rest, said Gregory Livingston, a campaign spokesman.
“We’re just looking forward to helping these families out,” Livingston said. “Give them more hope for Christmas.”
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