Share this story


 |

The Catholic Investment Foundation of North Alabama

Putting Financial Blessings to Work

The Catholic Investment Foundation of North Alabama (Foundation) is probably one of the best and most widely unknown gems of the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama. The Foundation houses, invests and manages endowments for the diocese in support of many Catholic purposes. Establishing a restricted endowment is a wonderful way to honor a loved one or individual who has been an important part of one’s life. Endowment funds provide scholarships, ensure priority needs across the diocese are met, and can serve as valuable resources for diocesan ministries.

Unlike other funds, endowed funds invest the total amount of the gift. Each year, only a portion of an endowment’s income earned is spent, while the remainder is added back to the corpus to help the endowment grow. When a new endowment is created, a gift agreement is created between the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham and the donor, which guarantees that the gift will be added to the Foundation and used solely for its stated purpose.

Recently, the diocese announced new endowments benefitting the diocese. One such new endowment is The Kathleen Ganey Scholarship Fund. Kathleen Ganey grew up attending Catholic schools in Taylorville, Il. After moving to Huntsville in 1986, she joined Our Lady Queen of the Universe Catholic Church and later sponsored her close friend, Judy Teague, in her RCIA journey to join the Church. With Ganey’s encouragement and support, Teague completed RCIA and became a Catholic.  Many years later, remembering the love and support of her dear friend, Teague established The Kathleen Ganey Scholarship Fund to promote and advance education for K-6 students attending Catholic schools in the municipalities of Huntsville and Madison. Annual scholarship awards will be divided evenly between Holy Spirit Regional Catholic School in Huntsville, Holy Family School in Huntsville, and St. John the Baptist Catholic School in Madison. The Kathleen Ganey Scholarship Fund will assist students experiencing financial need with tuition-only scholarships, which will be renewable throughout their K-6 education as long as grades sufficient to pass to the next grade are maintained. Recipients do not have to be Catholic to be awarded this scholarship.

Another endowment the diocese announced was The Bishop David E. Foley Scholarship Endowment. Brigadier General William J. (Bill) Fiorentino worked with leadership of John Paul II Catholic High School in Huntsville and the Development Office for the diocese to create the new fund. General Fiorentino made his initial gift in memory of his wife, Judith Fiorentino, and additional funds were contributed by the high school.

The purpose of The Bishop David E. Foley Scholarship Endowment is to help make Catholic education attainable for families experiencing financial need.

Endowments aren’t restricted to individuals, however. St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church in Birmingham recently endowed a fund in support of their columbarium. The St. Mark’s Columbarium Fund will serve to ensure the columbarium is properly maintained.

The diocese also announced a fund created from a bequest. David Slovensky named St. Michael’s Cemetery as a beneficiary to an IRA. His initial gift and any future contributions to The St. Michael’s Cemetery Fund constitute an endowed corpus which will be held, invested, maintained, and administered by the Foundation for the care of St. Michael’s Cemetery.

Finally, through the generosity of its many supporters, the diocese has endowed The Faith in Education Fund which will serve as a source of funding during times when scholarship need in our Catholic schools cannot otherwise be met.

Each endowment is treated as a permanently restricted fund, governed by its own rules or Memorandum of Agreement, and monitored by the Diocesan Investment Committee. The Foundation is included in the annual financial audit of the diocesan administrative offices by an independent CPA firm.


Any individual or parish wishing to take advantage of this opportunity to establish an endowment account within the Foundation should contact Allen McClendon, Diocesan Director for Development, at amcclendon@bhmdiocese.org or 205-776-7191.