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December 11, 2002
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Colorado couple gives Bishop Machebeuf High School $2 million
Gallaghers' contribution aimed at reducing debt for new school
By Jack Bacon
Students
of Bishop Machebeuf High School assembled in their Commons area Dec. 3
to cheer and applaud Charles and Diane Gallagher for their gift of $2
million to the school, many gasping audibly when they were told the amount
by President Nancy Walla of the Catholic Foundation for the Archdiocese
of Denver.
Charles Gallagher said he gave the money to reduce the debt incurred by moving and building a new plant for the school because debt "is an anchor around its neck — you can't do anything until you get the anchor off your neck."
The 45-year-old archdiocesan school moved three years ago from its original site at Montview Boulevard and Elm Street to 458 Uinta Way on the old Lowry Air Force Base to meet the demand for growth. Since the move, enrollment has nearly doubled to 495, Principal Lisa Switzer said, and already has a waiting list.
Gallagher made his reasons clear in a brief address to the teen-agers. He said he and Diane met as students at Central Catholic High School in their hometown of Toledo, Ohio, and that he completed his education at Xavier University in Cincinnati, a Jesuit school.
"The opportunity we got (in Catholic schools) is one of the reasons we're in a position to do this," he said.
"Why did we pick Machebeuf High School? I know a lot about this school and a lot about its needs," he said. "You ought to be grateful for the opportunity to attend a school like this."
He was equally direct in his advice to the young audience.
"Every day get up and dream about your future," he said. "Each one of these classes is a building block. ... Pay attention to where you are. Eventually, I predict, you'll be saying, 'What can I give back?'"
Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., led the delegation of archdiocesan officials to the school assembly to thank the Gallaghers. He said by the time the new school was completed, a debt of $6 million had been incurred.
"It's hard to get people to give money to a debt," the archbishop said, as opposed to raising money for a new athletic field or other specific project, but that when he talked to the Gallaghers about the problem, "They were immediately responsive."
"I never have a hard time asking for money, and the reason is that I'm asking for you," he told the students. "Pray for them, these wonderful people. ... Their hearts are as big as their lives, alive and joyful.
"Please do your part to make this the best Catholic school in the state," he added.
Gallagher followed up his message face to face with dozens of students as they came forward to shake his hand after they were dismissed, asking each, "Where are you going to college?"
He interrupted his greetings briefly midway through the process to exclaim, "We're batting a thousand — everyone's going to college!" Machebeuf traditionally sees 95 percent of its graduates enroll in college.
In interviews after taking care of the long line of grateful greeters, one with Machebeuf student journalists, Gallagher recalled some of his background, including "working my way through college," and re-emphasized his determination to give back to the schools some of what they gave him.
His philanthropy has included building a new athletic complex for the inner-city Toledo high school he and his wife attended, which required buying 53 houses to get the space and which was named for his father, and a $17 million student center on the Xavier University campus.
In addition, he said, he and his family — he's chairman and chief executive officer of their Gallagher Enterprises, an equity company — send 100 inner-city children a year to Toledo Central Catholic and on to Xavier University through its Pacesetters program, and 100 in Denver to Metropolitan State College of Denver through the Colorado Uplift organization.
Gallagher said they moved to Colorado seven years ago, and purchased their ranch near Kremmling from the University of Denver's Daniel Ritchie. His gift to Machebeuf was the latest in his generosity to the Archdiocese of Denver's schools, including underwriting the recent annual Seeds of Hope dinner.
Charles and Diane have four adult children and "11 1/2 grandchildren."