Gala Raises More Than $900,000 for Inner-City Scholarship Fund

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What is: “Donate your winnings to the Inner-City Scholarship Fund?”

That was just what comedian Mo Rocca, a supporter and trustee of the Inner-City Scholarship Fund (ICSF), did when he won second place on the television show Jeopardy. While he didn’t win the game, he did win the hearts of countless children with his donation of more than $40,000.

The announcement of Rocca’s Jeopardy appearance came during 39th annual Friends of Inner-City Scholarship Fund gala, held at the Manhattan restaurant Cipriani’s on May 12. The event raised more than $900,000 from guests who cheered when they learned about the Jeopardy competition, which aired the next day.

“Inner-City helps children go to Catholic schools in Manhattan, Bronx and Staten Island, and it would not be possible without all of you,” said Susan George, executive director of ICSF, addressing the 425 guests at the gala.

ICSF, founded in 1971 by Cardinal Terence Cooke and a group of business executives, provides tuition assistance to low-income students attending inner-city Catholic schools in the archdiocese.

One of the students, Joralyssa Conley, a senior at Notre Dame School of Manhattan and a participant of ICSF’s “Be A Student’s Friend” program, told the guests that Notre Dame “teaches us the value of community” and said the school also taught her to be “a woman for others.” Because of that, she said, she hopes to one day be a sponsor to a child as well.

The emcee for the evening was WNYW-FOX 5’s Dari Alexander, who shared details about the program, including that more than 7,000 students in inner-city Catholic schools in the three participating boroughs are assisted by ICSF, and that 98 percent of seniors attending inner-city Catholic high schools graduate and 96 percent attend college.

Gala Chairs were Katherine and John Doyle. The Bronx choirs of St. Raymond Academy for Girls and St. Raymond High School for Boys performed.

Before the invocation, Cardinal Dolan thanked those who make the ICSF possible. He noted the words of Jesus, who said, “Go teach all nations.”

“The Church has been doing that extraordinarily well and we couldn’t do it without the grace and mercy of God and without your generosity,” the cardinal said.

The cardinal also recognized the deaths of three great leaders and proponents of the ICSF and Catholic education: Cardinal Egan, archbishop emeritus; Ann Mara, a philanthropist and, after the death of her husband, Wellington Mara, a co-owner of the New York Giants; and Frank Rooney, chairman of H.H. Brown Shoe Company and the former chairman and chief executive officer of Melville Corporation.