Texas Catholic Letters
February 18, 2010
Mr. and Mrs. Neil O’Brien
Dallas, Texas
Dear Neil and Pat,
It is hard to believe that the annual Catholic Foundation Award dinner honoring Father Phil Postell, SJ, President of Jesuit College Preparatory School, is over. Thank you for being the chairs for this year’s event. You set a lofty attendance goal for the 65 member dinner committee and it met the challenge. The dinner attendance was over 1,400, a record for the event.
The evening got off to a great start with Monsignor Henry Petter’s harmonic and prophetic rendition of “When The Saints Coming Marching In”. Bishop Farrell’s endorsement of the Foundation’s work was wonderful and Father Postell’s acceptance speech was humorous and profound. He emphasized the gravity of the crisis in Haiti which is why the special Catholic Foundation honoree grant was given to The Jesuit Refugee Service for the Haitian earthquake tragedy. The $10,000 grant brought the total raised locally under Father Postell’s leadership to over $124,000.
Sebastian Saldivar of Bishop Dunne Catholic School, the Catholic Foundation 2010 Scholar, gave an impressive acceptance speech, and the surprise entrance at the end of the evening of the Jesuit marching band playing the Jesuit fight song was a great way to wrap up the evening. It was a big surprise to Father Postell and the audience.
Many who attended have been very complimentary and are saying they will not miss the event in the future. So, Pat and Neil thank you for your leadership in helping with a great evening. We are grateful for your support of The Catholic Foundation.
Very truly yours,
Edwin M. Schaffler
President and Chief Executive Officer