INGLESIDE, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A suburban Catholic school is on the verge of closing, but a former student is hoping to save it.
$400,000 is needed to keep St. Bede School in Ingleside from closing, according to a GoFundMe page started by Susan Lutzke, who attended the school when she was younger.
"So many experiences and traditions have been created there that have helped shape the students into good and kind humans," she wrote on the page. "I am now a senior in high school and I wouldn’t be who I am without my time at Saint Bede."
In her plea for donations, the now 17-year-old Lutzke said on December 13, St. Bede families were told the school would close if the money needed isn't raised by January 26. This came after an official with the Archdiocese of Chicago made the announcement at a school board meeting, according to the Daily Herald.
The school opened in 1958 and besides Ingleside, it also serves students from Antioch, Fox Lake, Grayslake, Lake Barrington, the Round Lake area and Wauconda.
St. Bede is co-sponsoring the donation drive, and donations have poured in, but much more is needed before the deadline. More than $206, 000 has been raised so far.
Lutzke said the donations will be refunded if the school can't be saved.
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