The BRDRSF strives to make education a top priority for every under-served student in Rwanda, works with local schools to proactively advance that goal over a lifetime, and in every way they can.
The BRDRSF also seeks to give its Scholars all the tools that will enable them to do well in their course work, graduate, help intellectual growth, and mentor the generations to come.
Brother Rene D. Roy foundation is registered non-profit organization, and 100% of all donations are directed to funding the scholarship program.
Our Vision
Rwandan youth are thriving and positively shaping all areas of our growing social-economic development, from science and technology to entertainment, from finance to government. Students participating in this program will be provided with essential tools and become good citizens upon whom the future will count on.
The BRDRSF stands strong as a reputable non-profit organization whose spirit is to foster a high level of performance and whose results are respected and highly-sought-after role models. As a result, our status is stronger than ever, and our future, brighter than ever.
Our Mission
The mission of Br. Rene D. Roy Foundation is to provide financial aid and scholarships to secondary school-aged students from low-income families in Rwanda consistent with the historical work of Br. Rene D. Roy prior to the mission of the Scholarship Fund in order to ensure that the recipients were educated in the spirit and charism of the Marist Brothers.
Who is Br Rene?
26 years ago, Br. Rene D. Roy stepped out of his comfort zone to answer a call to serve in an unknown territory far away from his home, the United States. He went to Rwanda, in the post-genocide era, not knowing what to expect at all but he said yes to that great call to serve. Brother Rene D. Roy arrived in Rwanda as a teacher, an educator, and Marist brother but soon turned out to be a paternal figure to many young Rwandans in his care, he went on to inspire a whole generation of young people and found full scholarships for dozens of young Rwandans to go study in the United States. To honor him, his former students and friends have decided to continue his legacy of care by starting a scholarship fund dedicated to helping pay school fees for young people from less-privileged backgrounds in Rwanda.
Currently working as a Campus Minister at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Bro. Rene has been a Marist Brother for 61 years. He entered the Novitiate on September 1, 1959 after graduation, took his first vows on August 15, 1961 and graduated from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY in 1964. His first assignment was in the kitchen at the Novitiate as the cook for 55 Brothers, Novices and Postulants. He then taught several subjects at Central Catholic High School in Wheeling, WV for 8 years and was on the Novitiate Team in Cold Spring, New York. Following this, he did pastoral work in Oglala, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation for 14 year, 4 years as the Recruiter, 4 years in Rwanda as an English, French and Religion teacher, 5 years as principal of Bishop Donahue High School in West Virginia, and 4 years as president of Central Catholic High School.
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