For nearly 70 years, the annual Caritas Scholarship Celebration has served as the primary fundraiser for University of St. Francis scholarships. Caritas helps to make a college education possible for so many bright students… many who are the first in their family to attend college. Each year, USF provides them with millions of dollars in institutional support, which helps students who would not be able to obtain a college degree without financial assistance.
Hosts: Ryan & Tece Hendrickson Committee Members: Tanisha & David Cannon | Diane Cepela | Rosie & Cesar Cardenas | Michelle & Terry Cottrell | Nick D’Arcy | Sue & Terry D’Arcy | Iman Ellis-Bowen & Duane Bowen | Abigail Gomulkiewicz | Annette Jelinek | Suzi & Gordon Marsh | Amy & Ken Mihelich | Dawne & Dan Mihelich | Steph & Tyler Qualio | Jodi & Scott Schager | Gina & Brian Sharp | Maggie Sillar | Michele & Tom Vana | Wilhelmine & John Vidmar | Theresa Dollinger Waldron & Jon Waldron
2026 ST. FRANCIS SPONSOR
TBA
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Your gift of $30,000 will assist in preparing a student, like Brianna, who has worked to put herself through college while living with her grandmother. Brianna’s dream of becoming a special education teacher would be realized with an Annual Scholarship to be awarded in 2025-2026.
2026 ST. CLARE SPONSORS
Wintrust
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Your investment of $15,000 will help to provide a student with the opportunity to realize their dream of becoming a health care professional and contribute to the community through service and leadership by decreasing their cost by half for the academic year.
2026 BROWN & GOLD SPONSORS
Gloria & Ed Dollinger and Family
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Your gift of $10,000 will help in providing five business students with a $2,000 scholarship for the year.
2026 SAINT SPONSORS
TBA
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Your investment of $7,500 will help afford students, like Lucy, the opportunity to pursue her double major in biology and chemistry. Lucy’s ultimate goal is to become a family physician and the gift of education at USF will ensure her patient approach is a compassionate one.
2026 BERNIE SPONSORS
Northern Trust
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Your gift of $5,000 helps a student realize their dream of becoming a nurse and changing lives by giving back to the community with the gifts they take with them when they graduate from the university.
2026 FRIENDS SPONSORS
TBA
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Your investment of $1,000-$4,999 helps provide resource support for our student teachers to realize higher levels of success in their journey to earn their degree.
Contact Annette Jelinek at ajelinek@stfrancis.edu or 815-740-3477.
