Recently, over 50 guests and donors to the Inner-City Scholarship Fund boarded buses in downtown Boston and headed for St. Anthony School in Allston, where they participated in an unforgettable and heartwarming field trip.

Guests toured classrooms, sat in student chairs, asked questions, and peered over students’ shoulders in math, science, and reading classes, and experienced first-hand the difference the Inner-City Scholarship Fund has made in the minds and hearts of the students at St. Anthony School. Tours of the school were led by seventh and eighth- graders at St. Anthony’s, after which guests were treated to lunch in the auditorium.

At lunch, guests were entertained by pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students, and greeted by Peter Lynch, chairman of the Inner-City Scholarship Fund; Sister Kathleen Carr, CSJ, Superintendent of Schools; Father Charles Higgins, pastor at St. Anthony’s Parish, and Jean Moschella, principal.

"For many of these children, their time at school is the best part of their day. Thank you to each and every one of you for making it possible for so many children to attend St. Anthony School, who would otherwise not be able to take advantage of the education they are being provided here," Moschella noted. "You will perhaps never know the extent to which your gift has made a difference in the life of a student."

As in past years, guests remarked as they left on the bus that the opportunity to interact directly with students was the highlight of the day.

At St. Anthony School, over 180 children are currently experiencing a value-based education from dedicated teachers in a safe and nurturing environment. In addition, as part of a pilot program for archdiocesan schools, St. Anthony’s offers before-school, after-school and vacation school programs through the Catholic Schools CONNECT program, as well as tutoring, nutritional, and counseling programs. This year, the Inner-City Scholarship Fund provided $136,000 in scholarship and other support for St. Anthony School students, or about $750 per student.

Since 1991, the Foundation’s Inner-City Scholarship Fund has raised more than $51 million to benefit some 60,000 disadvantaged students in 61 inner-city schools.