Don & Janice Arth
Deo Gratias Award – 2022/ Distinguished Catholic Family
“Don and Janice recognized the need to give back to God through this gesture. Their participation with the Heart to Heart Scholarship Fund has given them a feeling of spiritual reward and the feeling of fulfillment of what God had meant for them to do.”
We are created for relationships and missions, so it is natural to wonder exactly what God wants us to do with our lives. We know He created us uniquely and for a purpose – so what is that purpose? The foundational purpose of our lives is to know, love, and serve the Lord. We do this primarily by following His commands and living a sacramental life. Beyond that, it looks different in our individual lives.
Don Arth has enjoyed and shown interest in vocations for many years. Don was born in Kansas City, and his father was killed in an accident when he was about a year old. His mother moved to Pilot Grove, Missouri, to be close to her parents. He grew up surrounded by five nuns on his mother’s side of the family. It was the time of the great depression, and money was scarce. Don was a recipient of a scholarship from an unknown donor that enabled him to attend the prep school at the Conception Seminary in 1946. During that freshman year, he realized he was not “designed” to be a priest – God had another plan for him.
Don joined the Air Force because he wanted to fly. He began his career as a B-29 gunner and after went on to pilot training. Don flew many missions, but one, in particular, he will never forget. Don was flying a C-121 recon plane off the coast of Vietnam, when another aircraft, flying far above him, dropped its load of bombs. He passed through the bombs that were showering down around, above and beside him and somehow, by the grace of God, he was unharmed after 30 years of service. He retired from the military in 1980 and then worked another ten years in the commercial finance farm equipment industry.
As the years went by, that unknown donor who paid for his first year of seminary school remained in Don’s heart. Don and his wife, Janice, wanted to help get something started to assist the Director of Vocations with a scholarship. A scholarship that could help out a young man or woman in need of financial assistance.
The Archdiocese of Kansas City, in Kansas, has been blessed with vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life for 135 years. While the need for vocations is perennial, there has never been a greater need than in the 21st century.
As members of the Serra Club, Don and Janice saw a need to make funds available to individuals considering the priesthood or consecrated life. In 2021, Don and Janice, together with the Catholic Foundation of Northeast Kansas, founded the Heart to Heart Scholarship Fund to defray expenses associated with the path to a priestly or religious vocation. Motivated by God's abundance and Don's recollection of his personal vocation story, Don and Janice recognized the need to give back to God through this gesture. Their participation with the Heart to Heart Scholarship Fund has given them a feeling of spiritual reward and the feeling of fulfillment of what God had meant for them to do.
The Heart to Heart Scholarship fund is funded annually from proceeds from The Master’s Cup Invitational golf tournament. The Master’s Cup is an annual golf outing and luncheon directed to anyone interested in helping increase vocations to the priesthood or consecrated religious life. The Master’s Cup is all about coming together around golf, a meal, and the Master Himself while building relationships that foster vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life in the archdiocese. The Master’s Cup generates fellowship among people discerning vocations, priests and lay faithful while generating financial resources for the Heart to Heart Scholarship Fund.
To make an online gift to the Heart to Heart Scholarship Fund, go to the Catholic Foundation of Northeast Kansas’ website:
cfnek.org, then click the big blue button in the right-hand corner (Make a Gift), Scroll down to the Religious Vocations section, click on Select your Fund and select Heart-To-Heart Scholarship Fund (HEART2). You can then select your payment frequency of a one-time gift, monthly, quarterly or annual gift.
Don and Janice Arth invite you to make a gift to the Heart to Heart Scholarship Fund to help fund seminarians and consecrated religious who are unable to financially cover the cost of tuition.
