SALT Briefs

SALT Briefs

Patricia Kerz, BVM (St. Julianna) won a first place award for her garden in the Community Landscapes regional category of Mayor Richard Daley’s Landscape Awards program in Chicago. A plaque commended her “significant commitment” to her neighborhood and the quality of life in the city.

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) invited Mary Gene Kinney, BVM (Antonilla) to participate in their conference, So Help Me God: Substance Abuse, Religion and Spirituality. She was part of a panel on substance abuse and treatment options within the clergy. Mary Gene is addictions counselor at Education and Intervention, Inc. in River Forest, Ill.

Mary Alicia Maas, BVM (Alcuin), St. Paul, Minn., has been awarded the Virginia McKnight Binger Award in Human Service. This honor recognizes “unsung Minnesota heroes who have made a difference in others’ lives while receiving little in return for themselves.” Ten awards, which include a monetary gift, are given yearly.

For the past five years, Mary has volunteered with Amicus one day a week in a Reconnect program to assist men and women who are returning from prison to find work, housing, transportation and other needs. “It is because I am supported by my BVM congregation that I am able to give of my time,” says Mary.

Dolores Myers, BVM (Dolore) has been awarded a Sabbatical Grant for Pastoral Leaders from the Louisville Institute, a Lilly Endowment Program for the Study of American Religion. The $12,000 grant will enable Dee, who is pastoral associate at St. Matthias Parish in Redwood City, Calif., to spend three months upgrading her personal and spiritual capacity for future service as liturgy coordinator. She is one of 50 grant recipients; 300 persons from the U.S. and Canada applied.

During its recent alumni weekend, Clarke College recognized the service of Marguerite (Christine) Neumann, BVM, retired faculty member and Chemistry Dept. chair for 27 years, by naming one of the labs the Neumann Organic Chemistry Lab. Marguerite also recently celebrated her 90th birthday.

Former BVM Marilou Denbo Eldred has been named president of the Catholic Community Foundation in St. Paul, Minn. She will lead the nation’s largest community foundation serving Catholic philanthropy. A graduate of Mundelein College in Chicago, she has been president of St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Ind., and vice-president of the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minn.

Celebrating at Sarah’s Circle 25th Anniversary event are (l. to r.) Ann Ida Gannon, BVM; Anniversary co-chair, Kathy Stauber and Carolyn Farrell, BVM.

The BVM congregation and the former Mundelein College of Chicago were honored with the Silver Circle Award by the Board of Directors of Sarah’s Circle at its 25th Anniversary celebration in early December.

The award recognized the “initial and continuing supporters of Sarah’s Circle, represented by Sr. Ann Ida Gannon and Sr. Carolyn Farrell, director of the Gannon Center for Women and Leadership.”

Sarah’s Circle, located in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, is “a drop-in center that offers a welcoming, supportive, non-intrusive safe refuge for women who are homeless, transient and of low income.” It began in a small walk-up that served seven to ten women per day. Now, Sarah’s helps an average of 54 women each day.

Margaret McGinn, BVM (Daniel Anne) served on the 25th Anniversary Planning Committee.

BVM Associate Ann O’Hara Michalski, Dubuque, is the recipient of the 2004 Humanitarian Service Award from the Clarke College Alumnae Association. A 1954 Clarke grad with a B.A. in sociology, she is “a church-centered mother and wife best known for her work as a community activist.” She credits the BVM values as immensely influencing her community work.

Ann has helped develop many community organizations, and is an advocate and leader in the mental health field in Iowa. Ann served on the Dubuque Housing Commission and has been an elected member of the Dubuque City Council since 1995.