Caritas

Caritas (Latin) – love, charity, affection, esteem, favor.

 

Liberty Common School has long been blessed by the bountiful financial support of many generous donors. In recent years, contributions have funded many projects around the school. In fact, one wouldn’t have to look far on any campus to see the positive effects of charitable gifts to the school.

 

We’ve been able to accomplish campus improvements such as the Plato campus playground and gym renovations, lights on Everett field, and audio-visual improvements at Liberty Common High School. In 2020, with uncertainty around educational funding, contributions were leveraged to ensure compensation of our expert instructors remained competitive. Dollars have been contributed to help lower our school’s debt, allowing more funds to be directed toward classroom instruction.  Financial gifts have funded annual college scholarships for deserving LCHS graduates.

 

Many student groups, sports teams, and fine-arts ensembles have been recipients of crowdfunded contributions. These contributions have enabled teams to travel to regional, national, and international competitions, funded musical-theatre productions, purchased robotics equipment, supported Festival of Ideas, purchased athletic gear, and so much more.

 

Why have so many parted with their hard-earned funds to support Liberty Common School? In one word: Caritas. While this Latin word is the origin of our modern word "charity," it is full of deeper meaning. The word caritas has a meaning more like “affection, esteem, love, or favor.” Understanding the word caritas informs a vision of true charity at the school: It entails giving from a place of affection, esteem, love, and favor for Liberty Common School and its mission.

 

The work happening in the classroom, on the stage, in the halls, and on the fields of competition at Liberty Common School is significant and profound. It is having an enduring effect upon the lives of young scholars. The work is an investment in the lives of students for the sake of their intellectual, moral, and social maturity. For 28 years, Liberty Common School has had a significant impact upon the lives of students.

 

Over that time, a growing cadre of donors has come to love and esteem the institution and the holy work taking place here. And out of the love and esteem for the school, caritas has emerged. True charity.

 

There are certainly many entities in this world competing for each family’s hard-earned resources. Many organizations portray a message that tugs at the heart or relays a sense of urgency—sometimes even bordering on coercion. As donors, we can sometimes feel like a pinball bouncing from one urgent appeal to the next as scores of needs compete for importance.

 

At Liberty Common School, we believe the work is important and urgent. However, we know true charity, enduring charity, must come from a place of love and affection. Caritas must be the origin of generosity toward the school, not pressure or coercion. We want donors and volunteers who give and serve because they love the school and its work. We want more and more to support Liberty Common School because when you love something or someone deeply, you want it (them) to thrive and succeed.

 

One of the easiest ways to express caritas at Liberty Common School is to give to the Liberty Fund (formerly named Annual Fund). These contributions are undesignated, allowing the leadership of the school to direct them toward the most important needs around the school.

 

In fact, recent contributions to the Liberty Fund are currently being utilized for the benefit of the school’s students. We will soon erect a new playground at the Aristotle campus, and plans are taking shape for audio-visual upgrades there as well. Projects at the Plato campus are in the planning stage, including bathroom renovations and outdoor grounds improvements. Audio, video, and sound will be installed in the Loggia, a central assembly space at the new Liberty Common Junior High campus. At LCHS, small lockers will be replaced with more appropriately sized ones to accommodate growing numbers of high-school students. Conversations have begun regarding replacement of the grass on Everett Field with turf. And this is just a peek into the project list for which Liberty Fund dollars will be utilized.

If you truly feel caritas for Liberty Common School, then we invite you to give to the Liberty Fund. We invite you to express your affection, esteem, favor, and love as you give to support the work of the school so we might accomplish these projects and more.

 

All for the sake of our students and their educational journey. All made possible through caritas.

Liberty Common School is a remarkable institution. Its success is possible, in no small part, due to the legions of generous supporters who practice caritas—love, affection, charity, and favor—toward the school each year. Thank you—I am truly grateful.

 

 

Feature Photo: Tree Planting Group by Grant Wood, 1937.