The Lasallian Foundation 2024 Year in Review

Thanks to the financial support received from Lasallian schools in Australia and New Zealand, individuals, De La Salle Brothers communities and organisations, the Lasallian Foundation was able to provide funding for 39 projects, primarily in Pakistan, but also Papua New Guinea, Palestine (Bethlehem University), Kenya, India, Australia and Fiji. The distribution of the funds is shown in the following diagram:

Donations of varying sizes were received from 11 Lasallian schools in Australia and New Zealand, four organisations in Australia and overseas, one De La Salle Brothers community, and over 100 individual donors who donated both online and by bank transfers. Staff members in two Australian Lasallian schools contribute to a Workplace Giving Program that supports projects in Pakistan. In some cases, the donor requested that the donation be allocated to a specific project but in most cases the donation was able to be allocated to projects of most need. The source of donations to the Lasallian Foundation is shown in the following diagram:

The Lasallian Foundation receives more requests for funding than it can possibly meet. During 2024, the Foundation has prioritised projects that focus on safety, water and sanitation, classroom furniture, security, repairs and maintenance and basic educational infrastructure. Donations to Bethlehem University are used to provide scholarships for needy students.

Reflecting on the achievements of the Lasallian Foundation during 2024, the CEO, Brother Adrian Watson, highlighted the funding of projects which delivered clean and cool drinking water in seven Lasallian schools in Pakistan and PNG. It is hoped that a further three Lasallian schools in Pakistan will benefit from funding for water filtration and cooling projects during 2025.

The Lasallian Foundation is exploring opportunities to partner with one or more organisations to provide solar panels, batteries and LED lighting to all Lasallian schools in Pakistan during 2025 and 2026. This will be a very ambitious project as the total cost is estimated to be AUD 600,000 if all 14 Lasallian schools are to be provided with solar panels. The benefits from such a project are great, with solar panel making the schools more financially sustainable, providing regular power supply in a country where blackouts are all too common and enabling the schools to run computers and fans without limiting their use because of budget constraints. It the Lasallian Foundation is able to partner with one or more organisations to implement this ambitious but necessary project, it is expected that the Foundation will need to provide counterpart funding of 25% or higher.

Excluding the solar power and water filtration projects mentioned above, the Lasallian Foundation already has funding requests for 25 projects totalling over AUD 400,000. The challenge for the Lasallian Foundation during 2025 is to raise funds for as many of the projects as possible. All the proposed projects have merit, and it is disappointing when not all the basic needs of schools cannot be met.

Source: The Lasallian Foundation