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January 20, 2012
JPII to
honor benefactor Jim Carell at Gala
Pope
John Paul II High School will honor Nashville
businessman and philanthropist Jim Carell at its annual
gala, to be held Saturday, Feb. 11, at Bluegrass Country
Club in Hendersonville.
The
school has been one of many who have been the recipients
of Carell’s generosity. Last year, he donated $120,000
to the school to pay for the renovation of its weight
room. At the dedication of those improvements last May,
Carell surprised JPII’s coaches by announcing that he
would donate another $2.7 million to have a new
artificial field turf installed in the football stadium,
to build a concessions building and restrooms for the
stadium, and build a new eight-lane track around the
school’s soccer field.
Work
on the concessions building, restrooms and new field
turf were completed in less than 70 days and were
dedicated at JPII’s first home football game of the 2011
season.
“It’s been a transformational gift,” JPII Headmaster
Faustin Weber said of the project before the dedication.
Carell told the appreciative crowd gathered for the game
and dedication, “This brings tears to my eyes. God has
blessed me, and I am happy to be able to do this for
you.”
Among the many other gifts that Carell and his wife,
Janet, have made in recent years are: $4 million toward
the construction of a new academic building at Aquinas
College; $2 million for a new athletic complex at Father
Ryan High School, Jim Carell’s alma mater, as well as
another gift of $3.5 million to Father Ryan to pay for a
new fitness center, improvements to the
Catignani-Drennan Fieldhouse and renovations of the
school chapel; St. Cecilia Academy; the Vanderbilt
University School of Nursing; and the Dominican Sisters
of the St. Cecilia Congregation. The Carells have also
donated money to Smithson Craighead Academy, a charter
school founded by Franciscan Sister Sandra Smithson.
The
theme for this year’s gala is “Celebrating 10 Years of
Excellence.” The school is still accepting donations of
items for the silent and live auctions, sponsorships and
selling advertisements in the event program. For more
information or to purchase tickets to the gala, contact
JoLind Weaver at (615) 590-6008 or
jolind.weaver@jp2hs,.org.
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