Although a corporation and a profitable operation, the Notre Dame Family remains just that, The Family.

The sole purpose of the Family’s existence continues to be the support of the school community for the benefit of the students. The students must reap the financial benefits for the support that the student body, staff, and parents provide to the Family operations.

We believe in the spirit and principles of Notre Dame College School. The Notre Dame Family provides our children a unique culture, which opens the doors to opportunities for them regardless of financial limitations. Many of these are opportunities and exposures that are not available at other schools because of financial limitations.

How we achieve our mandate:

1. We do this with the funding that gets funneled back to the students for their teams, community, and academic endeavours.
2. Support by the students and parents by purchasing goods from the cafeteria and ND Outfitters are monies of which 100% of the profits are recycled back into the school for the benefit of the students.
3. On an annual basis, these profits are contributed over the school year to meet various student needs. These contributions include but are not limited to:

• • Hardship funding, (uniforms, Breakfast Club, or any other financial need of a less fortunate student)
  • Bursaries at graduation,
  • Supplemental funding of uniforms and equipment for our teams,
  • Financial support to the Year Book,
  • Newspaper,
  • The Pilgrimage,
  • The Social Climate committee,
  • Drama and music,
  • Guest speakers on subjects such as drunk driving and social issues to name just a few.

We invite and encourage all parents/guardians to become involved in the ND Family by completing the Membership Application.

In the early years, the Notre Dame Family took on a passive, supportive role assisting with functions and modest fundraising.

In May 1987, three years after the announcement of full funding by the Provincial Government, the Notre Dame Family was approached about the possibility of operating the cafeteria when the school itself could no longer administer it. This would enable the profits to be realized within the school community as opposed to having the profits benefit an outside supplier.

In November 1987 the ND Family was incorporated as the Notre Dame Family Student Services Welland, which made it a non-profit corporation and broadened its services from simple fund raising and volunteer assistance to a corporate operation of the cafeteria providing nutritious meals and allocating the funds generated.

In the 1994-95 school year, The Notre Dame Family took over the Bookstore (now known as ND Outfitters), eventually taking on the role of supplying the school uniform in-house as opposed to hiring an outside supplier. This served to expand the operation and realize an increase in profits for the Family.

Also, during the 1994–1995 school year, the Notre Dame Family, in conjunction with the Alumni, committed over $90,000 to the construction of a new chapel.

In the early 2000s we once again committed over $160,000 in funding towards the expansion of the school to provide Notre Dame students with superior facilities.

The Notre Dame Family is very proud of where we started and just as proud of what we have become today. We are continuing to write history as we go forward each and every year and we invite you to be a part of it by joining this great organization.

I would like to take this time to introduce myself as the President of the ND Family Student Services Welland for 2024/2025 school year, my name is Daniella Stukel, I have been actively involved with the ND Family in various roles for over 10 years and it gives me great pride to say that I am an alumnus of Notre Dame.

As well, Carrie Vernelli is our Vice President and she has been actively involved in various roles for over 10 years and together with our amazing Volunteer Board of Directors, our commitment is to our students to help make their experience the best it can be. We love the dedication and commitment of the people who sit around our Board table.

For those who don’t know what the ND Family is or does, We Keep It All In “The Family”

Founded in 1954, the Notre Dame Family is a non-profit corporation dedicated to creating a healthier experience and improved opportunities for all of Notre Dame’s amazing students. We operate with a Volunteer Board of Directors who oversee the operation of the ND Cafeteria and the ND Outfitters. Our ND Family is unlike any other and we offer something very special to Notre Dame.

Our Primary mandate is to Serve and Provide our students with the best possible experience at Notre Dame.

In the past year we have experienced some changes in our structure, The ND Cafeteria had to participate in an RFP (Request for Proposal) process as the cafeteria services for all high schools was put out to tender by the Niagara Catholic District School Board.

Fortunately, we were awarded the contract to continue our service to the ND Students. Karen Salinger our exceptional Cafeteria Manager continues to do a stellar job and her team work very hard to provide the best food options at the highest quality for our students each
and every day.

ND Outfitters also had to go through an RFP process to be the official supplier of the ND School Uniform. Unfortunately, after 30 years of providing exceptional service and quality uniforms to our ND Community, we were not successful in securing that contract and as
such, we are no longer able to sell NEW Uniforms as of September 2024. The loss of the ability to sell uniforms was very disappointing to the ND Family. McCarthy Uniforms was awarded the contract. There was promise of ND Outfitters being able to sell Uniforms and remain a part of the process to make things easier for our ND Community but that unfortunately did not come to fruition. However, the positive is that the ND Outfitters with our exceptional Outfitters Manager Audra Ramundo will remain open to sell ND Spirit Wear, Accessories and ND Uniform Used Items.

Stay tuned for many exciting new things to come in September. Our Store Hours will be changing so stay tuned for more information on our social media sites as we transition to our new Store Model.

The ND Outfitters and the ND Family would like to wish Kathryn Pierce, an excellent long-standing employee of ND Outfitters, all the best in her future endeavors and we will miss her commitment and dedication to our family.

To all the Parents, Guardians, Staff and Students who support our businesses, WE THANK
YOU! and we look forward to serving you for many years to come!

If there are any parents who have any questions or would like to join our ND Family Board, please don’t hesitate to contact us at ndfamily@bellnet.ca and we would love to see you around our table.

Best Wishes for a Safe and Wonderful Summer!
See you in September

Best Regards,

Daniella Stukel
ND Family President