The Fellowship has been networking across the country with various groups and organizations, and one of the most powerful connections that has developed is with the Notre Dame Alumni Association. Not only have ACE alumni been running their local ND Clubs, but these clubs are also serving ACE schools and joining with Fellowship regions to help Catholic schools across the country.
This spring the Washington DC Fellowship teamed up with the ND Club in their area to organize a service project at Sacred Heart School. Steve Calme (ACE 10) worked with ND Club representatives and Sandra Rojas (ALP 4), the principal at Sacred Heart, to coordinate a large community clean up. It was a great way to make connections and help alumni network for future projects in the area.
Similarly, John Fernandez, Adam Rodriguez (both ACE 5) and Becky Camillus (ACE 9) who are contributing members of their ND Club in Fort Worth, joined with the ACE program to feed over 100 hungry ACE marathoners when they descended upon the city for the Annual ACE Marathon. It was inspirational to see the greater Notre Dame family working together to help Catholic schools.
Many connections have been naturally developing across the country, as ACE and ND alumni join together for service projects, but this relationship was made more formal when the ACE program was invited to present this May at the Notre Dame Alumni Senate Board Meeting. Representatives from over 80% of the ND Clubs across the country came to campus to learn more about ways in which they can organize and coordinate their regional alumni. Zack Budzichowski (ACE 2) came from the Charlotte region to attend the Alumni Senate gathering.
ACE had an opportunity to present to a large group of alumni on ways in which ND Clubs can network with ACE to better serve Catholic schools. Both the ACE Fellowship and NDAA plan to foster this relationship and work with each other to network on future projects. Please contact the Fellowship office or the Notre Dame Alumni Association if you would like to learn more about ways in which your area can develop a relationship between these two groups.