About Us
St. Vincent Educational Foundation
The St. Vincent Educational Foundation (SVEF) was founded in 1983 and while it is not connected to The Archdiocese of St. Louis, was established solely to ensure the longevity of the school system. Its purposes include promoting and sustaining Catholic education, accepting gifts and endowments, providing financial assistance for Catholic education, and investing funds.
The first unofficial auction raised $2,700 at Perry Plaza. In 1986, it moved to the American Legion Hall and became the first annual Pot O' Gold dinner auction, raising $10,035.01. The event stayed at the Legion Hall for many years, setting profit records. In 2021, the St. Patrick's Auction moved to the St. Vincent High School Gymnasium due to COVID concerns. Despite the absence of a dinner and crowd, profits soared thanks to online bidding. The auction continues to thrive, with last year's profit exceeding $233,000.
Along with the St. Patrick's Auction the St. Vincent Educational Foundation also hosts the Seminary Picnic Car Raffle, now in its 28th year and raising over $60,000 this past year. Another event, the SVEF Variety Show, is a smaller "FUN"draiser held every two years, featuring local musicians, actors, and comedians.
In 2007 the SVEF started the Centennial Endowment aptly named because of the 100th anniversary of the High School. By 2020 the Endowment had grown to 1.9 million and the board began to grow the base funds to the level we are today of 3.1 million.
The SVEF board is able to direct annual money raised through the Foundation on the entire school system for things such as teacher bonuses and tuition for dependents, software, general funds and needed renovations while money spent from the Centennial Endowment interests was developed to support the high school only and is currently being used for the school roof loan payments.