On March 10, a record 47 Vincentians were inducted into the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in a ceremony held at Mary Queen of Peace Church. “It’s a testament to the importance of St. Vincent de Paul that we had 47 inductees this year. That’s a large number. And most impressive is that a lot of them were younger and we need younger members,” said Donna Young, Director of Conference Affairs and Volunteer Services. “The addition of younger members ensures the work of St. Vincent de Paul will carry on.”
Three awards were also given at the ceremony—the Ozanam Medallion, the St. Vincent Award and the Top Hat Award. The awards were presented by Ed Wnorowski, Executive Director/CEO of St. Vincent de paul Louisville and Bob Hagan, President of the Council of Louisville.
The Ozanam Medallion is awarded to an individual who serves as a role model for other Vincentians and is also an inspiration to the broader faith community. This year’s recipient is John Kolb from the St. Athanasius Conference.
Every Monday he drives the truck to Dare to Care to pick up a delivery for our food pantry and then proceeds to unload the truck and stock the shelves. He has done this every week since the pantry opened.
Margaret Schum of the Mary Queen of Peace Conference received the St. Vincent Award this year. The St. Vincent Award is presented to an individual who, like St. Vincent, has dedicated their life to supplying nonjudgmental and supportive service to those in need. Margaret has been a Vincentian since the 1980s and has been helping families and doing home visits in her area ever since. In addition, she is part of Mary Queen of Peace serving team that comes to the Open Hand Kitchen monthly to serve meals.
The final award, the Top Hat Award, is the highest honor presented by the Conference Affairs Committee. This award is presented to a Vincentian who exemplifies the spirit of our founder, Frederic Ozanam. This year that honor goes to John Raque of the St. Raphael Conference.
A huge supporter of all programs on the St. Vincent de Paul downtown campus, John is constantly recruiting volunteers for the food pantry and the Open Hand Kitchen. When hearing that the freezers in the food pantry were having problems, John organized and administered a special collection for the new walk-in freezer. Also, knowing many of our pantry volunteers were not youngsters any more, John began soliciting and became very instrumental in getting a conveyor and lift to make the job easier for the volunteers.
Space doesn’t allow for a listing of all the hard work the Vincentians and award winners perform each day, year in and year out. The next time you see a Vincentian, please thank them for their service to the community.
“The award winners and new Vincentians alike exemplify the character and beliefs our founders had in the work that we need to continue to do,” added Donna.
2019 Inductees
Holy Family
Jamie Jarboe-Spears
Holy Spirit
Marilyn Hettich
St. Bernadette
Judy Clausen
Pennie DeTorres
Carol Devos
Helen Donaldson
Emily Jennings
Steve Jennings
Tom Mugavin
Tom Murray
Rita Murray
Helen Nicolas
Gerald Nicolas
Lauri Pils
Jane Quennan
Sharon Schumann
Kelly VonBusch
St. Dominic
Sr. Genevieve Durcan
St. Edward
Ann Metzger
Paul Metzger
St. Ignatius
Denise Ellery
Patricia Laster
Juanita Tooley
Jennifer Tungate
St. Lawrence
Mike Brey
Gary Browning
Suzanne Burns
Doris Kenney
Jim O’Bryant
Linda O’Bryant
St. Leonard
Mike Feldhaus
Sandy Feldhaus
Judy Felli
St. Paul
Margaret Conard
Lee Ann Devine
Gene Dowell
Brigida Hatmaker
Therese Soeder
St. Raphael
Heather Duvall
Daryl Granger
Morgan Kelty
Kelli Watkins
St. Rita
Judy Hodges
St. Stephen Martyr
Anita Garrison
Chuck Steinmetz
Dave Thieneman
Ron Weckman
Interested in becoming a Vincentian or volunteering at St. Vincent de Paul? Contact Donna Young at (502) 301-8688 or dyoung@svdplou.org.
Featured in The Good Samaritan
Read the April 2019 Issue
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