CHARLESTON—A new foundation has been formed to promote and support funding for religious, educational, and charitable programs in the diocese.
Known as the Catholic Community Foundation of South Carolina, the group held its first meetings in late April. The 10 members of the foundation’s board of directors are lay people with a wide variety of career experience, including backgrounds in finance, education and real estate.
The main function of the new foundation is to make sure that funds raised for endowments and other long-term purposes within the diocese are invested and distributed properly to fulfill the needs of parishes, schools, missions and ministries.
“Our role is to oversee the disposition of assets raised from various sources within the diocese,” said Eugene Waldron, a board member who attends St. Gregory the Great Church in Bluffton. “The role of the foundation is to make sure that funds raised are properly invested and that grants are properly executed from the pool of assets available.”
The foundation’s main focus right now centers on the funds being raised through the Bicentennial Campaign, which started in 2018 and will continue through 2020.
Mike Mallon, a board member from Our Lady of Lourdes in Greenwood, said the foundation will meet quarterly. Their work will set a new precedent for the diocese because lay people will provide direct oversight and be directly involved in how assets are funded and distributed.
“We’re primarily involved with the Bicentennial Campaign right now, but the vision is that this lay board will continue and be involved in future campaigns within the diocese,” Mallon said. “The vision is that this foundation will put a new direction on the whole future of what funding efforts look like here in the diocese … and will be able to give a perspective and input that comes directly from the parish level.”
Here is a look at the members of the foundation’s board of directors:
Steve Armaly, St. Mary Church, Greenville. Senior vice president in wealth management for UBS.
Deacon Reginald Armstrong, St. Anthony Church, Florence. President, client wealth manager and a partner of the Armstrong Wealth Management Group in Florence.
Lynda Curry, St. Philip Neri Church, Fort Mill. Business manager for St. Philip Neri Church.
Robert Leichtle, St. Joseph Church, Columbia. Retired from BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina in 2011 as executive vice president, treasurer and chief financial officer.
Mike Mallon, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Greenwood. Retired from ExxonMobil Corp., where he worked in labor relations management.
Dr. William Neglia, Basilica of St. Peter, Columbia. Radiation oncologist and a founding member of South Carolina Oncology Associates.
John Palms, Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Charleston. Nuclear physicist who served as president of the University of South Carolina in Columbia for 12 years before retiring in 2007.
Helen Ryan, St. Francis by the Sea Church, Hilton Head. Former nurse who also served as principal of Hilton Head High School for six years.
Eugene Waldron, St. Gregory the Great Church, Bluffton. Recently retired as senior vice president of Capital Guardian Trust Company.
Charles S. Way Jr., Stella Maris Church, Sullivan’s Island. Chairman of the board for The Beach Company, a real estate development company based in Charleston.
