Below are Featured Foundation Projects from 2020-2022. Click here to see the most recent projects from 2023, including:

• Alumni Alley Upgrades

• Repairs: A/C Units, Roofs, Brickwork

• We Give Catholic/Giving Tuesday

New Windows at Byrider Hall

In 2022, Byrider Hall, which houses the school gym as well as several meeting rooms, was upgraded and refreshed with new hallway flooring, fresh paint on hallway walls, new interior and exterior doors, a new entryway patio, and added security features. Portions of these upgrades were funded by the Foundation’s new Byrider Hall Improvement Fund. The meeting rooms along the south side of the building also received new windows, a long-overdue replacement of the original windows that were still in use in this area. The Foundation’s Byrider Window Fund provided most of the funding for these new windows. Thank you to the donors who supported these two funds for making these upgrades possible. Byrider Hall is now a more functional, attractive, and secure building that makes a positive impression on visitors to this heavily-used facility.

Picnic Tables for St. Sebastian’s Garden

The St. Sebastian School Garden is an outdoor classroom and garden that was established in May, 2011. The garden is located on the parish grounds, adjacent to Byrider Hall. The garden provides students and teachers with a unique learning environment – one in which the principles of gardening/farming, environmental science and entrepreneurship are cultivated. Shortly after the garden was created, The Spectacular Garden Fund was established at the Foundation with proceeds from the 2011 Spectacular, the school’s annual fundraiser. Over the years, the garden has experimented with different layouts and crops, adding a volunteer crew of parishioners and parents. Sebastian’s Garden has also developed a strong partnership with Good Samaritan Hunger Center, an independent non-profit that is also located at Byrider Hall, to which all the produce from the garden is donated. In 2022, in conjunction with the established fund at the Foundation, interested donors helped purchase two sturdy picnic tables for Sebastian’s Garden. The tables will be used by the adult and student garden teams when they take breaks from their dedicated care of the garden.

Our Youngest Learners: 2021 #weGiveCatholic

In 2022, the #weGiveCatholic effort, “Our Youngest Learners,” raised $13,076 for the replacement of the activity tables and chairs in the kindergarten and preschool classrooms. In addition to the online giving campaign, the school held a “change bandit” competition, which yielded over $2,200 in change (and bills)! Thank you to everyone who emptied out their piggy banks and searched their couch cushions, and congratulations to the preschool classes, which brought in the most change and were rewarded with doughnuts and cider. The new furniture was installed before the 2023-24 school year.

Priest Patio and Prayer Garden

A donation to the Foundation in 2021 from a thoughtful and generous family enabled the creation of a new patio for the priests located between the church and the rectory. The work involved the installation of a cement patio and fencing, the purchase of patio furniture and a fire pit, and the construction of a new doorway to provide direct access to the patio from the passageway between the rectory and the church. The priests now enjoy access to a peaceful, private outdoor space, perfect for quiet prayer, reading or informal gatherings.

Lights, Camera, Action: 2021 #weGiveCatholic

In 2021, the #weGiveCatholic campaign focused on the Zwisler Hall project to overhaul the audio and lighting systems. The #weGiveCatholic effort, “Lights, Camera, Action,” raised over $21,000 for the project. An additional $53,000 for this major project was provided by proceeds from the paddle raise at the 2022 St. Sebastian Spectacular, the school’s annual fundraiser. Thanks to the generous support of these two efforts, the main audio system and all of the stage lighting in Zwisler Hall has been replaced. A new speaker unit was installed above the stage in a large circular area that now also holds speakers for the new schoolwide PA system, which was paid for separately with a grant. The majority of the project was completed in time for Catholic Schools Week events, including Open House, the Spelling Bee, Pastries with Parents, and Terrier Trivia!

Original Church Bell Tower Repairs

There are two bell towers on our campus: one that soars high above the current church building, and one that rises more modestly above the original church building, now known as Zwisler Hall. The original bell tower was solidly constructed, in part because it once housed the massive bell now located near the school’s flag pole in a grassy area along Mull Avenue. In recent years however, our sturdy original bell tower began to deteriorate, requiring significant repairs to the brick and cement work. Thanks to several generous donations to the Foundation, this work was completed in early 2021.

COVID Support from the Foundation

Classroom AV Equipment Upgrades

Our parish school completed significant upgrades to its classroom audio-visual equipment in the fall of 2020, thanks to funding from the Helen Barry Hamlin Library Fund of the St. Sebastian Parish Foundation. Money from the Hamlin Library Fund was used to purchase BEAM audio devices (small, portable sound bars enabled with Bluetooth® technology) and XD microphones for each teacher, enabling students to clearly hear their teacher’s voice in both the classroom and the online learning setting. The Hamlin Library Fund also paid for the purchase of new HoverCam document cameras for each classroom to replace outdated cameras. These devices can record lessons and are compatible with video conferencing programs such as Zoom Video Conferencing and Google Meet. The new equipment provided significant and timely improvements for the learning environment for all of our students, especially those who chose the school’s online learning option.

Broadcasting System Established

The St. Gabriel Fund was created at the St. Sebastian Parish Foundation to support the live-streaming, recording and broadcasting efforts of St. Sebastian Parish, including the purchase of equipment (cameras, controllers, cables, software, etc.) and licensing fees. Initiated in 2020 during the pandemic, the St. Gabriel Fund provided crucial funding for the establishment of the parish’s broadcasting systems, which helped the parish stay connected and minister to its parishioners despite the inability to gather as a community. The fund also provides ongoing support for maintenance and upgrades to the broadcasting systems. The fund was named after St. Gabriel, the Archangel, who serves as a messenger for God and is the patron saint of messengers, telecommunication workers, and postal workers. It was St. Gabriel who “broadcasted” to Mary that she would become the mother of the Son of God. Pictured here, junior high students operate the live-streaming equipment during the Stations of the Cross.

Chalk the Walk: 2020 #weGiveCatholic

The St. Sebastian Parish Foundation is pleased to announce that project work is complete for the “Chalk the Walk” campaign. This campaign’s goal was to raise funds to restore the historic sandstone walkways around the parish school, which date back to the late 1920s when the school building was constructed. The effort kicked off Dec. 1, 2020, in coordination with the Diocese of Cleveland’s #weGiveCatholic fundraising effort on Giving Tuesday.

The parish school’s students also helped with the campaign by decorating the sandstone walkways with messages written in chalk and by starring in special video messages for the project. The videos are posted on the parish’s YouTube channel under the “Special Features” playlist (www.youtube.com/StSebastianParish/playlists). As a result of all these efforts, the Foundation raised $15,000 from the support of 67 generous donors! This spring, the beautiful, original sandstone walkways around our school and rectory were repaired and restored. As you can see in the “after” picture below, Fr. Valencheck’s dog, Chester, enjoys walking along the newly restored sandstone walkways.

STUDENTS "CHALK THE WALK" WITH MESSAGES OF SUPPORT

BEFORE 

AFTER

Padre Pio Chapel

The Padre Pio Chapel was dedicated and blessed on September 20, 2020. The chapel is in the back of the church, in the corner room that previously served as the baptistery and most recently served as the Fr. John McDonough Library. Generous donors provided the funding, so that in 2019 the McDonough Library was moved to a new and wonderfully renovated space in the server’s sacristy. These same generous donors converted and furnished the room into a beautiful chapel that serves as a place for prayer and reflection as well as an accessible confessional. Also funded by Foundation donors are the protective frames and paintings displayed in the chapel.

Rose Window Restoration

The Foundation was pleased to assist the parish in the repair of our cherished rose window. The rose window, an inspiringly beautiful and colorful work of art, was once located on the wall above the sanctuary in the “old church,” now known as Zwisler Hall. The window was moved to its current location over the entrance to the Zwisler Hall after the hall underwent a major renovation in 2004. In 2020, the rose window was removed and completely restored to its original structure with each window pane receiving special attention and care. Each individual window pane’s frame was rebuilt and reinforced so that the entire rose window maintained its structure, shape and design. In honor of the parish’s 90th Anniversary, special sun catchers of this beautiful design were created.