Your Response Fuels Ours 

Good things happen when you show up for Benedict’s. This year’s Giving Day marked 10 years of transformation at St. Benedict’s Prep following the 60 Minutes broadcast that introduced The Hive to the world. By midnight on March 20, more than 600 alumni and teammates came together to raise over $393,000, which is essential to the work of accompanying 1,000 kids from in and around Newark. 

Results like these are extremely vital. When you respond, so can we. While Catholic grammar schools struggled all over New Jersey in 2017, we assumed operation of St. Mary School, establishing a K-12 model that provides the best of Benedict’s to elementary-age schoolkids. When the need for counseling surged, the Grossman Family Counseling Center staff doubled to meet the demand, and the percentage of students receiving services on-site jumped from 27% to 45%. After a group of nine young women changed my mind in 2020 by making the case for a single-sex Girls Prep Division, we supported their initiative and a mighty Benedict’s sisterhood was born. 

Our deepest thanks to everyone who made a gift to The Benedict’s Fund in 2025-26 and to the community that sustains us year after year. Your acts of generosity aren’t limited to addressing the challenges and needs we see on the ground here in Newark. They’ve led to spectacular outcomes. Seventeen QuestBridge Scholars in five years. An intentional sequence of student leadership experiences that builds persistence and resilience, qualities that proved instrumental to the four seniors who attained the prominent NJ Evans Golf Scholarship this year. Schools from all corners of the country — and world — now partner with the Fr. Mark Payne Institute to learn about our model built on community, leadership, experiential learning and tending to kids’ hearts. 

No one carries this mission alone. Whatever Benedict’s success posted on social media that gets you to respond with 🔥🔥🔥 — a team championship, an electrifying arts performance or 100% attendance from your Group at Convocation — that swell of pride also comes with responsibility. Every contribution of every size matters; never assume otherwise. Best of all, there’s still time to show up and ensure that good things continue to happen for Gray Bees and for St. Benedict’s Prep. The fiscal year ends on June 30. I hope I can count on your support. 

Peace! 

Rev. Edwin D. Leahy, O.S.B. ’63
Headmaster