For Michael Kennedy, St. Hubert in Hoffman Estates is like a second home.
"I was there pretty much anytime that I wasn't at my own house, whether it was doing volunteering, going to school for class. I was involved in athletics there," Kennedy said.
Kennedy, currently a junior in college, graduated from St. Hubert in 2019, but said he regularly goes back to visit the school and even coached basketball there during his senior year of high school. So, he said he was in "utter shock" when the Archdiocese of Chicago announced last week that it would be closing St. Hubert, along with five other Catholic grade schools.
"It's really hard to see something you care so much about just kind of dissolve in front of your eyes," Kennedy said.
According to the Archdiocese, the closures come as a result of declining enrollment and ongoing financial losses. The schools, pre-K through eighth grade, is set to close at the end of the school year.
Kennedy said while the news was disappointing for alumni to hear, the school's closure would have the biggest impact on current students, families and faculty.
"I think that they're honestly in the worst situation," he said. "They're going to not only lose their school, they're going to lose part of their community. All of these teachers that are working there currently already make a sacrifice to work at a Catholic school. Their jobs are at risk right now."
In an attempt to keep the school from closing, Kennedy, along with other alumni, started a GoFundMe page last week. They've already raised more than $10,000 of their $500,000 goal.
"The funds produced are in place to either keep the school open under the Archdiocese or possibly fund a new independent Catholic school," Kennedy said. "I think the big thing for people to understand is that your money is going to something good."
He said while it's unclear what direction the cause will take, he is confident in the community's ability to keep St. Hubert open.
"I just thought it was an opportunity for me to show my support and kind of reach out to the network of people that I knew that could possibly donate and help," Kennedy said. "I really just thought it was a way that we could possibly save the community that we have."