Dominic Rego, a college senior at UCF and altar server at Catholic Campus Ministry (CCM), has made a planned gift to CCM
Dominic Rego recalls his best memory with the Catholic Campus Ministry (CCM) community, which fosters faith among Central Florida college students. Dominic and a group of friends in the fall of 2020 drove from Orlando and spent the night at Cocoa Beach where Dominic practiced guitar, everyone sang praise-and-worship songs around a campfire, and the friends enjoyed a coffee-and-eggs breakfast the following morning as they watched the sun rise. At that moment, “I realized the people around me are like brothers and sisters,” Dominic, 23, recalls.
So when Dominic enlisted in the U.S. Navy – while still attending the University of Central Florida (UCF) where he is currently a senior – he knew exactly who to name as a beneficiary of the life insurance plan that the Navy provides as part of his benefits. Dominic, who is scheduled to graduate from UCF in December and serve the Navy thereafter, named CCM as the sole beneficiary of his life insurance plan. By establishing a legacy gift for CCM, Dominic has become the youngest member of The Catholic Foundation’s Vivos Christi Society, which honors those who have made a planned gift supporting a Church ministry or entity.
Dominic has two siblings who could have been named beneficiaries of the life insurance policy, so his parents asked: “What about your brother and sister?” Dominic told his parents that he would help his siblings in other ways. “I had been thinking for a while about how I could make a lasting impact on CCM and this was it,” Dominic says of his planned gift. “If only one person can benefit from my gift to CCM the way I have benefited from CCM, it will be worth it.”
Faith and altruism infuse Dominic’s world view: “I want to bring Catholic ideas to the Navy. I want to serve my country,” says Dominic, a math major. “I want the U.S. to be a global force for good. I want to help protect the world. Hopefully, one day I’ll earn a star on my shoulder as a Navy admiral.”
The Church needs young Catholics to become dependable stewards, says Dominic, a self-described “cradle Catholic” who was an altar server as a child and has filled the same role at CCM. “College kids my age are the future of the Church. The Church will grow or shrink because of us. If we want it to do well in the future, we have to invest in it.”
To learn how you can establish your Catholic legacy with a planned gift for your favorite parish, school, ministry or entity, please contact Madelyn Weed, CFRE, Vice President and Chief Donor Services Officer, or 407-246-7188.