Catholic Inner-City Schools Education Fund
Cincinnati Volunteer Pete Bushelman Impacts Thousands Through CISE
There are people in this world who generously give of themselves without any want for return. They quietly contribute in ways that touch others in very meaningful ways.
Pete Bushelman is one of those people. Over the past 33 years, he has impacted the lives of thousands of children through is involved with Cincinnati Catholic Inner-City Schools Education Fund (CISE).Single-handedly, he has raised over $2.5 million to give kids from Cincinnati’s urban neighborhoods an excellent education at a CISE school.
Pete has been a member of the CISE Advisory Board since it was formed in 1980 by then Archbishop Joseph Bernardin.
According to Sharon Civitellos, CISE communications coordinator, “Pete is not a figurehead chairperson. On the contrary, he acts as a committee of one and does everything from calling on his raffle ‘customers’ to writing and mailing out thank you cards.”
The first fundraiser undertaken by the CISE Advisory Board was the “Friends of CISE” Raffle. Pete agreed to chair the first Raffle more than 30 years ago and has served in this role ever since.
From late August each year until the day of the Friends of CISE Raffle drawing in December, Pete is on the phone with 800 of his close friends and associates encouraging them to purchase their raffle tickets. Pete’s persistence pays off with more than $120,000 being raised annually for CISE through this one event. Collectively, that amounts to over 1200 raffle tickets sold valued at over $2.5 million!
At over 80 years of age, Pete continues to give his all to making the Friends of CISE Raffle a success. He amazes his colleagues on the CISE Advisory Board with his tenacity and drive to raise funds for the education of children from Cincinnati’s urban neighborhoods. Without Pete’s determined efforts, the future may have been quite different for the young people who received a solid academic and spiritual foundation at the Catholic inner-city schools during the past 33 years and have gone on to college and careers.
Pete’s volunteer work is not limited to CISE. He has dedicated his life to helping others. Any day of the week you might find Pete delivering food to the homeless or a local food pantry, raising funds for one of his other favorite charities, or helping his invalid 
next-door neighbor who has been able to remain in her home thanks to Pete’s care.
Over his lifetime Pete has actively served on over a dozen non-profit boards and continues to look for ways to help those in need.
And Greater Cincinnati is better for all of us because of people like him.
About CISE:
The schools supported by CISE are St. Boniface in Northside, Corryville Catholic, St. Francis Seraph in Over-the-Rhine, St. Francis de Sales in East Walnut Hills, Holy Family in Price Hill, St. Joseph in the West End, St. Lawrence in Price Hill and Resurrection in Price Hill.
To learn more about CISE and how you can help, please visit www.CISEfund.org.
I want to thank Sharon Civitellos for supplying information for this post.
CISE Fund Kicks-Off Fundraising Campaign For Cincinnati Kids
In Cincinnati’s urban core, there are 1,650 youth attending eight Catholic elementary schools supported by the Catholic Inner-City Schools Education Fund (CISE). Ninety five percent of those students live below the poverty level and seventy-five percent are not Catholic.
Generous donors and volunteers make that all possible.
As supporters gathered recently to kick-off CISE’s 2013 Fundraising Campaign, they joined together with a large goal in mind. CISE must raise $2.5 million annually to provide the needed support to eight Catholic urban elementary schools in Cincinnati.
University of Cincinnati Men’s Basketball Coach Mick Cronin had this to say to CISE’s Young Executives volunteers: “We are all busy, but you can’t make a difference if you walk by and look the other way. By helping raise funds to keep the CISE schools open, there is no question you are making a difference and changing the lives of the children in these schools.”
The CISE Young Executives are a dedicated team of young business leaders, led by Co-Chairs Eric Schuermann and Matt Champa, who call on local businesses, individuals and foundations to raise funds and awareness for CISE. Since their inception in 1999, they have raised over $8.5 million to benefit the CISE schools and their students.
University of Cincinnati President Santa Ono was the keynote speaker at the CISE main kick-off event where 
Jennifer Drennan was honored as with the CISE Distinguished Educator Award. Drennan, a pre-school teacher at Holy Family, shared why her job matters, “My students know that I love and care about each one of them and will treat them with respect. In turn, they learn to treat others with kindness and consideration.”
The schools supported by CISE are St. Boniface in Northside, Corryville Catholic, St. Francis Seraph in Over-the-Rhine, St. Francis de Sales in East Walnut Hills, Holy Family in Price Hill, St. Joseph in the West End, St. Lawrence in Price Hill and Resurrection in Price Hill.
To learn more about CISE and how you can help, please visit www.CISEfund.org.
