HENDERSONVILLE — Immaculata School has received a great gift from a local couple that hopes to continue the blessing of Catholic education for generations to come. Gayden and Janell Gauthier, parishioners of Immaculate Conception Church since 2012, have created the Gauthier Family Endowment Fund with a stock gift of more than $100,000 to benefit the school.
The Gauthiers, originally from Louisiana, have been married 45 years and have two adult sons and two granddaughters. The couple shares that they were raised in the faith and are graduates of Catholic elementary education, so they want to help pass on the faith to future Catholic school students.
“Gayden and I both came from families where devotion to our faith was strongly demonstrated to us by both our grandparents as well as our parents,” Janell Gauthier said. “That struck me from a very young age. It is an important part of who I am and it gives me strength in times of distress.”
She expressed that her Catholic school education helped her go forward in her life with a good faith and moral foundation.
“As a result of the benefits we reaped, we would like to see that opportunity continue going forward in the future (at Immaculata School). We think that the school is a very important resource. We want to help the school go forward for current and future generations,” she said.
Gayden Gauthier hopes the endowment will foster faith in the younger generation, as he thinks some young people have lost interest in the faith.
“Our experience with millennials has been that some of them have not kept up going to church,” he said. “We would like to encourage youth to go to church. We want to foster that continuation of going to church in young people today. I see that the faith is dissipating (with some of them) – that they go to church when it’s convenient.”
“By creating the endowment,” Janell Gauthier added, “we think it is a way to say ‘thank you’ to God for all the blessings He has given us in our lives.”
In addition to the endowment gift, the Gauthiers each plan to leave $150,000 from their estates to Immaculate Conception Parish.
The Gauthier Family Endowment Fund will be administered through the Diocese of Charlotte Foundation. Established in 1994, the foundation has grown to encompass more than 255 endowments and more than $48 million in total assets.
An endowment is a permanent fund, the principal of which is never touched, but the income from which can be used according to the wishes of the donor organization or individual. Endowments provide a way to generate income and help sustain the long-term strength and viability of the recipient parish or ministry.
Immaculata School now has nine endowments which have been made through the foundation, totaling $1,440,894. To date, $587,690 has already been distributed through those endowments.
“We are so grateful for the Gauthiers’ generosity. While most people set up endowments to be distributed through their estate after their death, the Gauthiers are setting up an endowment now and also leaving additional gifts to the Church in their estates to benefit others,” said Jim Kelley, diocesan director of development.
“More and more people across the diocese are remembering the Church in their estate plans – gifts from thousands of dollars to millions – and we are thankful for their generosity,” Kelley said.
For details about endowments or estate gifts, contact Ray Correia, diocesan director of planned giving, at 704-370-3364 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
CHARLOTTE — Looking to help make wishes come true for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families, Father Christopher Roux, rector of St. Patrick Cathedral, will hike 28.3 miles for the annual Make-A-Wish Spring Trailblaze Challenge the weekend of May 18-20.
The Trailblaze Challenge is an endurance hike where participants tackle the terrain of the Foothills Trail – in one day. This is a hike, not a race, and it caters to all levels of hiking ability, from novices to advanced outdoor enthusiasts.
This is the sixth time in four years that Father Roux and small groups of cathedral parishioners, which he calls “Pat’s Peeps,” have participated to raise funds to help grant the wishes of children who have life-threatening medical conditions.
First-time hikers have a minimum goal of raising at least $2,500. In subsequent years, hikers strive to raise at least $2,400. This year Father Roux will be joined by parishioner Jason Murphy, so they have a combined minimum goal of $4,800.
Since on average each wish can cost approximately $6,000, Father Roux is really striving to raise enough to fund one wish and two if possible, so his goal is between $6,000 and $12,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
“It is a wonderful thing,” Father Roux said. “When we have our Make-A-Wish weekend, previous Wish families come down and tell their stories. In the midst of all of the difficulty they have – with their kids with doctor’s visits, treatments and day-to-day life responsibilities – this gives them a period of time when they have some good memories.”
“The family doesn’t have to worry about anything,” he said. “Make-A-Wish does everything they can to make this a pleasant experience where the family can just enjoy being a family with their child.
“As time goes on, if the child continues to be sick or, sadly, passes away, they have that memory to hold onto – a memory that was happy.”
Wishes range from a visit to Walt Disney World, to swimming with dolphins, from being a soldier at Fort Bragg for a day, to being a Carolina Panther for a day.
Make-A-Wish Central and Western North Carolina hopes to grant more than 360 wishes for children in need this year.
For more information about aiding in the effort, go to www.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=1167406 and select Spring 2018 Hikes. Once on the webpage, select hiker name “Christopher Roux.”
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter