Guardians of Hope

On Friday, March 9th, 543 business and community leaders, donors, board members, alumni, and staff gathered to celebrate and support Holy Trinity High School, a 102 year old Chicago Catholic school, by attending its Guardians of Hope Dinner at Soldier Field. The event raised nearly $400,000 for the school’s student financial assistance fund, which supports 90% of Holy Trinity students.

Teaierra Curry, a junior in Holy Trinity’s honors program, delivered the night’s keynote address.  She spoke of the school’s life-changing impact - “Being a Holy Trinity High School student is one of the greatest things that has happened to me. I know that this school has been placed into my life because I needed to be here. Besides helping me to become a better student, Holy Trinity has helped me to become a better person. Because of Holy Trinity, I know that everything can change. The world is not a perfect place but if enough people believe and act in the HT way, we can make it better.  I am truly grateful to be attending such a great school and it would not have been possible without the help of the donors and sponsors of our school.”

Timothy M. Bopp, the President of Holy Trinity High School, also praised the continuous support from Chicagoland business and community leaders. He said, “We are deeply grateful to all of our guests, supporters, and sponsors, whose generosity helps Holy Trinity to provide a rigorous education, build character and confidence, and establish high expectation. Because of the generosity of others, for 102 years and counting, we have been able to give Chicago’s youth a better high school option and a brighter future.”

This year, the Guardians of Hope Dinner also served as an opportunity to honor Wells Fargo, a long-standing partner of Holy Trinity. In recognition of the bank’s longstanding commitment to the mission of the school, Holy Trinity High School presented the Spes Unica Award to Jim Heinz, Executive Vice President & Head of US Corporate Banking. Through their support of the school’s internship program, arts department, tutoring center, and student scholarships, they have become an essential part of the Holy Trinity community. For the past four years, Wells Fargo has hosted two interns each summer through the school’s Friends for a Future Internship Program. Jerry Silva, a graduate of Holy Trinity’s Class of 2011 and former Wells Fargo intern, served as emcee for the Dinner. Now a freshman at Western Illinois University, Jerry said, “Working at Wells Fargo taught me people skills, how to work with a team, and what it is like to work in a big corporate environment. The experience helped shape me into who I am today and I am very thankful for it.”

Jim Heinz emphasized the impact that the internship program has on the students, saying, “We have found that these students are so mature, so ready to learn, and are so easy to incorporate into our day-to-day work flow and the payoff of giving them this opportunity is immense.”