Fr. Jarrod Lies enjoys the company of one of the younger contestants at Trivia Night. (Advance photo)

Those who wish to donate to the Holy Family Special Needs Foundation may visit hfsnf.org.

The Holy Family Special Needs Foundation recently held its inaugural Trivia Night, with over 200 participants attending the event on Saturday, Sept. 7 at the Wichita Country Club.

“Everyone told us they had a lot of fun but that the questions were really hard,” Jessica Lopez said.

Lopez, director of the Ministry with Persons with Disabilities, noted that the event aimed to raise funds for both her ministry and inclusion grants for diocesan Catholic schools to support intellectual and spiritual growth for persons with disabilities.

“We planned Trivia Night because we realized there was a need to increase our fundraising to support the growing number of inclusion grant requests from our schools,” Lopez explained. “We landed on Trivia Night because we wanted to do something fun for couples and families that would engage the community in a meaningful way.”

Lopez highlighted a significant issue: some children with special needs are turned away from Catholic schools due to inadequate resources. “By increasing the Holy Family Special Needs Foundation’s ability to give, we can help close the gap of students turned away, as well as giving schools access to much-needed resources,” she said.

Christine Ostroski, president of the Holy Family Special Needs Foundation Board of Directors, mentioned that prayers were directed towards St. Margaret of Castello for a successful event.

“Little Margaret didn’t disappoint,” Ostroski remarked. “I was astonished that our first-ever fundraiser was almost sold out! St. Margaret was severely physically disabled and she proved to our board that persons with disabilities can do mighty things.”

Ostroski described the foundation as "another beautiful facet of this jewel that is our diocese."

“While the world often rejects those with disabilities, as did St. Margaret’s own parents, the Wichita diocese keeps working to embrace them,” Ostroski stated. “We hope even more donors will come forward to help us in this precious work.”