Beaufort private school to start $1.7M scholarship fund
In March, the Rev. Chad Lawrence stood before the students, families and staff of Holy Trinity Classical Christian School, challenging them to raise $750,000 for a scholarship fund.
If they could reach that goal in six months, an anonymous donor had promised to match that amount.
On Sunday, now six months later, the school's headmaster again stood before the Holy Trinity family with some better news. The school didn't just meet the goal, but exceeded it.
About $1.7 million is being deposited to establish the Farrell and Elizabeth Runyan Scholarship Fund at Holy Trinity to benefit children whose families could not otherwise afford to attend the school, Lawrence announced.
"It was a big number, and I was very hopeful, but at the same time doubts will creep in," he said of the original challenge. "But the way the people have responded in this community, and even outside the area, has both confirmed and affirmed the education we provide here at Holy Trinity."
Alan Runyan of Beaufort -- the once anonymous donor who issued the "Raise Up a Child" challenge to Holy Trinity -- said the school's method of education led him to get involved. Along with the matching donation, Runyan also promised he would reveal his identity if the school met its goal.
Runyan is the son of Farrell and Elizabeth Runyan, missionaries who traveled the world, and the trustee of their namesake endowment fund. It was created in 1993 to provide financial assistance to projects that further his parents' mission, ranging from building a maternity clinic in Africa to supporting Young Life in Beaufort.
Runyan said he thought Holy Trinity, which opened in fall 2012 on Burroughs Avenue in Beaufort, fit that mission.
"Education of the type that is being given at Holy Trinity is a holistic education that encompasses all elements of a person's being, and it is very rare and very good." he said. "It seemed like the torch that my mother and father carried in the foreign land, and it was important to pass it to a new generation who will carry in a different way, but still carry it."
Runyan and Lawrence said they hope the scholarship provides financial assistance not only to current Holy Trinity families, but enables new families who never thought they could afford a private school to enroll their children.
Yearly tuition for the private school is $2,000 to $4,000 for preschool, $5,500 for kindergarten and $6,600 for grades one through seven.
The school awarded about $200,000 in scholarships last year and about $175,000 the year before, according to Lawrence.
With this new fund, Lawrence said, the school can devote the money previously used for scholarships to other needs, such as materials and educational programs.
Scholarships for the current school year have already been awarded, he said, so the first awards from the new fund will be for the next school year.
The school hopes to continue adding to the fund, increasing the number of students it can serve, Runyan said.
Lawrence said donations for the fund ranged from $1 to six figures. They came from students emptying their piggy banks to unknown donors from out of state who heard of the effort.
"This scholarship does the tangible (of providing financial support), and the value that brings to families is untold because you can't put a dollar value on education," Runyan said. "But more than that, the fashion in which the challenge was met speaks to the value of Holy Trinity -- this is an institution worth investing a lot in."
Follow reporter Sarah Bowman at twitter.com/IPBG_Sarah.
Related content:
- Anonymous donor challenges local private school to raise $750,000, March 16, 2014
- Welcome to Lowcountry's newest schools, August 30, 2012
- Holy Trinity Classical Christian School
This story was originally published September 7, 2014 at 10:59 PM with the headline "Beaufort private school to start $1.7M scholarship fund."