Big Shoulders Fund

Description

Big Shoulders Fund serves nearly 21,000 students in 67 elementary schools and 15 high schools in the city of Chicago. The schools are an important resource for students and communities, with research showing that when a Catholic school closes the surrounding area experiences an increase in violence and a decrease in social cohesion.

These schools help realize the vision that there are educational outlets throughout Chicago where children can “charge up” and maximize their potential. Big Shoulders Fund is focused on ensuring these schools can remain open and viable for years to come, raising more than $275 million in support of this work since its founding in 1986.

Big Shoulders supports schools and programs that will ensure students receive a strong academic foundation in elementary school, enroll in quality, college prep high schools, enroll and persist in college, and lead productive lives as adults.

History

Inspired by Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, the Big Shoulders Fund was founded by a group of business and civic leaders in 1986 to provide support to Catholic schools in the neediest areas of inner-city Chicago. For more than twenty-eight years, the Big Shoulders Fund has helped Chicago’s children in need achieve their dreams through access to a quality, values-based education.