LA Catholic schools among new Hannon Foundation grant recipients

Several LA Catholic schools are among those benefiting from a series of education grants announced by the William H. Hannon Foundation as it marks 40 years. 

The more than $200,000 in grant money will support scholarships and tuition relief for students in need, along with field trips, music and art programs, and more, the foundation said. 

The foundation’s namesake was a Catholic real estate developer and philanthropist who remained grateful for the help he received in order to attend what was then Loyola University in Westchester (now LMU). Hannon was admitted to the school in the 1930s on a “handshake deal” where he promised to pay back his tuition once he had a job. 

“My late uncle never forgot the support he received, and we are proud to keep his legacy alive by paying it forward on his behalf,” said Kathleen Hannon Aikenhead, Hannon’s niece and president of the foundation. 

One of the grants, given to St. Raphael School in South LA, will help fund the school’s music and performing arts program – a program that the foundation’s support in 2004 helped to start.

Other schools receiving grants from the Hannon Foundation include St. Monica Catholic School, Dolores Mission School, and Mount St. Mary’s University.