Sarita Kenedy East established the foundation in 1960 to support and fund Catholic educational, charitable, and religious activities in Texas, primarily in the region of the Diocese of Corpus Christi (as that entity then existed).
The mission of the Foundation is to nurture and advance activities which contribute to the following core values:
Helping break the cycle of poverty | Assisting people to help themselves | Nurturing support and love for Catholic institutions | Developing the Catholic faith | Learning | Spirituality | Respect | Cooperative/collaborative partnership
The Foundation encourages grants with large “ripple effects,” that is, those which generate benefits that spread beyond their primary grantee into the wider community. Although its principal beneficiary is Catholic charities, the Foundation supports non-sectarian charities in Texas to the extent of at least 10 per cent of its annual distributions. Non-sectarian institutions are defined as non-religious and not church related.
