Tuition cost is one of the biggest issues facing families whose children attend Catholic schools, said Mandee L. Sahd-Havrilla, advancement director of Our Lady of the Angels Catholic School in Columbia. To help, the school will hold its fifth annual Angels Among Us Gala as a virtual event from Friday, April 16, through Sunday, April 18.

"This is an important event for us because it helps raise funds to offset tuition costs," Sahd-Havrilla explained. "We offer scholarships, but that still does not meet what families need to send their children to a Catholic school."

While the traditional model has had church parishes supporting Catholic elementary schools, that's become a burden for the parishes, she noted. "Our parishes struggle as costs increase for instructional materials, new technology and maintenance on aging buildings," she remarked. "This year it is even more challenging than ever. The difference between what a family is able to pay and the actual cost of education is subsidized in part by generous grants, private contributions and fundraising activities such as (this gala)."

Although this year's gala will look a little different, its focus will be the same as previous years, Sahd-Havrilla said. "We will have an online auction that will open at midnight on April 16 and will close at midnight on the 18th," she stated. "We'll have lots of items up for bid - gift cards that range from golf to tours of local attractions. We have an autographed Steelers football. We have a lot of kids' baskets. There's something for everyone." Gala participants may bid on the item or may choose to "buy it now," she said.

Last year's event raised more than $25,000 for the school, which serves 153 students in preschool through eighth grade, and Sahd-Havrilla hopes to meet that goal again this year. Funds from last year's event helped provide tuition assistance to 42 students.

Along with raising funds, the gala will recognize two people who have worked to make a difference at the school by inducting them into the Our Lady of the Angels Hall of Fame.

"We are a consolidated school from members of St. Peter's Catholic Church and Holy Trinity Catholic Church, and we pick one person from each who is invested in our school," Sahd-Havrilla noted. This year's honorees are Polly Davis and Kathleen Lutz.

"We are recognizing both of them this year, but we hope to return to an in-person gala next year, and we will also honor them in person at that point," Sahd-Havrilla said.

A link to the Angels Among Us Gala auction will be posted on the school's Facebook page as well as on the school's website, http://www.ourladyoftheangels.org. The link will go live on April 16.