LASALLIAN
NOTES
BR OTHE R S OF THE C H RIS T IA N S CH OOLS
DISTRICT OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA
Spring 2019 • VOL. 3
Our Third Pillar - Service of the Poor by Mr. Alan Weyland, Executive Director, Office for Mission & Ministry
Students return from recess at Collège de Saint Jean Baptist de La Salle in Port-au-Prince Haiti.
Now in my tenth year as the Executive Director for the Office of Mission and Ministry, my frequent travels to our numerous educational ministries in the District of Eastern North America (DENA) and others in the larger Lasallian world, remind me constantly that each of us is called by our faith and Lasallian Charism to be in service to/for/with/of the poor. Our Lasallian mission specifically calls us “to provide a human and Christian education to the young, especially the poor.” As monitor of the Service of the Poor pillar of our Strategic Plan, Vision 2020+, I continue to be renewed and inspired by all that happens in our ministries in this area and yet, I realize, as we all do, that there is still much more to be accomplished. Our strategic plan specifically calls for us to “Create a bold, compassionate, and practical Lasallian vision, on the District level and on the local level, of what it means to serve ‘especially the poor’.” Specific goals call for affirming and challenging the way our ministries live out our Lasallian
principles in addressing those who are from the lower socioeconomic strata of society; developing an advocacy role for DENA to be especially for the poor; and, focusing awareness on ministries that need extra support in securing their future. All of this poses a daunting challenge. Allow me to share a variety of responses from both the local and District levels as to how we are already responding and what we will need to undertake in the future. The Saint John Baptist de La Salle Scholarship Fund is a critical component of our current and future response to service of the poor. Nearly twenty years ago, the endowment was established to provide scholarships for students who otherwise could not afford a Lasallian education. Since then, the Brothers, and in recent years, other benefactors, have grown the Fund to now award $845,000 in aid annually to students at sixteen different ministries. Yet there remains much more need to be met. Each year, need-based financial aid, academic scholarships, nearly tuition-free
Miguel schools, unfunded services in our Youth and Family Service agencies, and student support from our two higher education institutions, provide essential help for a large portion of the nearly 27,000 youths we serve.
Strengthening our BASE
B - Brothers’ Vocation A - Association/Formation S - Service of the Poor E - Evangelization (continued on page 5)