Merry Christmas, Everyone!
It has been an exciting and record-breaking year for the Lancers Alumni Foundation. Our strategy of reconnecting and re-engaging alums seems to be working.
Here is a little recap of 2025:
- We had an enjoyable and successful alumni reunion held at the school over the summer, with over 100 alumni and parents in attendance.
- Sr. Cecile was honored for over 50 years of service to OLS School.
- We introduced OLS school to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and they are working together to provide innovative science programming to current OLS students.
- Using the words, sentiments and experiences of our alumni, a campaign video appeal was created pro bono, themed, “Keep Special Alive.”
- We launched “The Lance” blog and newsletter, which has profiled various and eclectic alumni, including Frank Bensel ’82, Evana Fytros Sirabian ’76, Karen McDermott Herrero ’75, Kevin Kehoe ’81, the Marasco Family and the Sullivan Family. We have had a tremendous response to this in particular and have plans to feature a lot more great stories in 2026 about alums, teachers and coaches. Stay tuned!
- The Lancers Alumni Foundation made a $15,000 donation to OLS school for new theater lighting.
- We have engaged a local marketing firm with expertise in branding, Christian organizations and digital advertising to create a recruitment campaign to drive enrollment at the school. We are very excited about what is to come.
- We now have over 800 alumni on our mailing list. Our goal for 2026 is to get the list up to 1000!
- More initiatives are being considered, from an Alumni Hall of Fame to an Alumni Musical Review of past Plays.
From a financial standpoint, we are gaining meaningful traction. Alongside several anonymous contributions, we received major gifts including $25,000 from the Marasco family, $20,000 made in memory of Ellen and Kevin Kehoe, and a $13,500 corporate donation coordinated by current OLS parent Michael Pizzo through BTIG’s annual giving day. We also received unexpected support from Walter and Janice Reardon — parents of alumni Thomas ’79, Eileen ’83, and Amanda ’87 — and from former 5th grade teacher Patty Greenwich Wolff.
We began the year with a foundation balance of $99,043 and are on track to close at approximately $300,000. Expenses have been tightly controlled: $20,500 for a fractional development consultant (a non-recurring cost), $15,000 to the school for lighting, $4,000 for our donor portal/CRM, and roughly $1,000 for website and marketing tools.
Beginning in 2026, consultant expenses will be eliminated, allowing us to redirect more resources toward the school’s marketing and growth initiatives. Our long-term priority is to build a sustainable endowment while strategically deploying funds to support current needs. We remain committed to strong financial stewardship and full transparency.
We understand that we are all asked to give to many organizations and want you to know that the dollars you provide to this foundation are being used judiciously and are already making an impact.
We hope that through our newsletters, you are recollecting fond memories and re-establishing relationships with old friends! What makes this work so rewarding is seeing the joy people have at reconnecting to their youth. As we hit transition points in life — job changes, empty nests, retirement, the death of one or both parents — connections are more important than ever.
If you feel compelled to help in any way, there are several ways you can do so:
- We still have many alumni we need contact information for, especially for classes from 1990 to present. If you are interested in becoming a Class Lead to help us, or simply have contact information for your family and friends, please email us at lancersfoundation@gmail.com.
- We will be continuing to profile alumni in our newsletters in our “Where Are They Now?” series. If you would like to be profiled or have someone you think has an interesting story to tell, please contact us.
- Future event planning
- Financial contributions: Please consider an annual pledge, or a recurring monthly donation. Your company may also have a charitable giving/matching policy. One of our donations this year received a $10,000 match from their employer!
We are so grateful to the many alumni who have helped us in our efforts to “Keep Special Alive.” Your contributions have been instrumental to our success! We welcome more alumni to join us on this important and very gratifying endeavor.
Thank you all, and Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Sincerely,
James L. Giangrande ’82 Michael J. Hurley ‘84