Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York and Archbishop José H. Gomez of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are enthusiastically rooting for their home team in the bicoastal national baseball championship series and have even placed a friendly wager to benefit Catholic school students in their respective Archdioceses. A YouTube short released today announced the wager with Cardinal Dolan offering Archbishop Gomez NY bagels for his part in the wager; and on his end, Archbishop Gomez is offering LA’s famous Randy’s Donuts.

“I’m grateful to my brother, Archbishop Gomez for agreeing to this friendly wager,” said Cardinal Dolan. “I’m looking forward to three things: 1. A great World Series with the Yankees winning their 28th Championship; 2. Enjoying Randy’s Donuts; 3. Raising awareness of and support for the John Cardinal O’Connor School and the Catholic Education Foundation of Los Angeles.”

Catholics and all people of goodwill are encouraged to get involved in this friendly exchange. Donations are being accepted to benefit John Cardinal O’Connor School in New York and the Catholic Education Foundation of Los Angeles (CEF). Visit baseballunites.com or follow #BaseballUnites on social media to see how you can be a part of the excitement and donate to support Catholic school students in the name of your favorite team. The two teams haven’t played each other in the Fall Classic since 1981.

“This is going to be a great World Series,” said Archbishop Gomez. “Baseball truly unites us as a country, but in every contest there has to be a winner, and that will be the Dodgers! I know my friend Cardinal Dolan is a good sport, and I’m going to enjoy the New York bagels that he will be sending me. I’m also grateful for this chance to highlight the great work of our Catholic schools in LA and New York and across the country. I have already made my donation, and I encourage everyone to enjoy the Series and support the great mission of Catholic education. Go Blue!”

The “winning” archdiocese will receive 60% of the total fund and the other archdiocese will receive 40% of the total fund to benefit the school and the foundation. All proceeds collected will go directly to the school and CEF, which provide needs-based tuition assistance for students attending Catholic schools in Los Angeles.

Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New York seek to empower students with learning differences to flourish in a Christ-centered, academically excellent, and welcoming environment where they are confident to reach their full potential and become lifelong learners. To achieve that objective, the John Cardinal O’Connor School (JCOS) was established to provide an affordable, language-based academic curriculum for children in grades 2-8 with learning disabilities, speech or language impairments, or other health impairments to children with learning differences.

The school empowers children to thrive academically, spiritually, emotionally, and socially in our supportive school community through:

• fostering the inclusion of students with disabilities in our schools to create a more diverse group and expose all students to a wider variety of personalities, interests, and abilities
• assisting administrators and teachers to partner with parents of students with disabilities
• enabling administrators and teachers who offer support and understanding that allow students with disabilities to achieve high standards
• advocating for mandated services from providers of special education
• promoting collaboration between the general education teacher and the providers of special education
• providing guidance to the schools for professional development to maximize the potential of students with disabilities
• developing models for the identification of students with disabilities and monitoring the effectiveness of the programs/ interventions
• creating models for delivery of services for students with disabilities in Catholic schools

With increased support, the Archdiocese of New York and JCOS will be able to give more schools the necessary tools to provide special needs students a space to grow and develop, not only as students but as people.

Since 1851, Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles have provided faith-based education where students receive tools for success in college and in their future careers focused on a commitment to service to their local and global communities. LA Catholic Schools boast innovative programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), leadership development for students and principals, dual-language immersion (Spanish and Mandarin), and robotics among others. With more than 245 schools in three counties, we’re proud to be the largest Catholic school system in the United States serving over 68,000 students in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties.

Since its inception in 1987, the Catholic Education Foundation has provided more than 230,000 tuition awards in excess of $264,000,000. The mission of CEF is to provide tuition assistance to the most financially deserving students attending Catholic elementary and high schools in the Archdiocese. This year, CEF granted more than 15,000 tuition awards in excess of $22,000,000 to more than 13,000 students attending over 200 schools throughout the Archdiocese. In addition, 4,441 of those awards have been issued through the New Enrollment Initiative (NEI), which is funded by an anonymous donor. NEI has made a profound impact by making a Catholic education possible for more students.