Catholic Charities Disciples of Mercy announced

At the end of October, Catholic Charities Diocese of Camden will hold its 18th annual Dinner & Awards Ceremony – formerly the Justice For All Dinner.

In addition to serving as the organization’s largest annual fundraiser, the event is an opportunity to honor the men, women and ministries who have gone above and beyond to help the most vulnerable throughout the Diocese of Camden. These Disciples of Mercy awardees, who were nominated and recently selected by a committee, come from each deanery across the Diocese. They will be formally recognized at the Oct. 25 dinner at Resorts Hotel, Atlantic City. It’s the first time in three years that the event will be held in person due to the pandemic.

Dennis W. Pullin, president and chief executive officer of Virtua Health, will be the guest of honor for the evening. Siafa Lewis, “Eyewitness News” anchor on Philadelphia’s CBS3, will serve as emcee. For more information or tickets, visit catholiccharitiessouthjersey.org/ccad.

This year’s honorees, representing Deaneries 1-5, respectively:

Saint Rose of Lima Social Action Committee

For years, the Social Action Committee of Haddon Heights’ Saint Rose of Lima Parish has extended a hand to the community –young and old – in fulfilling Jesus’ message to love thy neighbor.

“The Social Action Committee has served others for several decades and has been a role model for other parishes,” says Bernadette Janis, who nominated the committee for a Disciples of Mercy Award. She called its members a perfect example of “Catholic faith in action.”

Comprising several ministries, the committee includes: a food pantry to feed the hungry; the Adopt-A-Family program; an outreach to mothers and their newborns; the Sunshine Committee, whose members make cards and plan visits to shut-ins, and the Cooking Committee, which prepares meals for the homebound.

The umbrella initiative, “makes my heart smile,” says Jackie Valvardi, a committee member since 1998 and its chairwoman since 2002. “Our faith calls us to do something. Every person, regardless of who they are or their circumstances, we need to look at them and ask, ‘How can I help?’”

She praises the parish community, which she calls a generous group of parishioners “always waiting for the call [to help]. They are the backbone.”

Father David Grover, pastor, says he is grateful for the committee’s work and the “diverse vital ministries that serve people in need.” He also thanks Valvardi for her “great heart and extremely active” nature, and the “dedicated volunteers who share her enthusiasm.”

Terri Bank, Our Lady of Hope Parish

As one of the founders of KIIDS (Knowledge and Information about Individuals with Down Syndrome), Terri Bank wants to bring love and support to families from pregnancy to adulthood.

After her third son, Michael, was born with Down syndrome 21 years ago, Bank found it challenging “to find resources and connect with others” going through similar experiences. Two years later, she and three other mothers formed the KIIDS organization to help support families, share information and guide children to reach their full potential.

“Children and families get to know each other, help each other, guide each other,” she says of the initiative. “To share that personal connection helps so much.”

Bank, a parishioner of Blackwood’s Our Lady of Hope Parish, “embodies the call to respect and care for all life,” says Bernadette Janis, who nominated her for the award.

Since the nonprofit’s incorporation in 2003, KIIDS has grown from seven to 130 families. The community gathers for activities such as hiking, sports, holiday parties and fundraisers.

“Terri is always joyful, and such a witness to many. The Holy Spirit is present with her,” says her parish pastor, Father Joseph Szolack.

“She’s helping children have a full life,” he continues, adding that Bank and KIIDS “reminds us that all life is precious, and everyone is made with dignity in the image and likeness of God.”

Bank calls her ministry a blessing, saying, “I’ve always wanted to lend a hand, and now I use what I can to help others and connect families. I’m doing God’s work in the community.”

Gerald Washko, Holy Angels Parish

Gerald Washko has served as a model of love and discipleship in his faith community of Holy Angels Parish, Woodbury.

“Jerry volunteers for everything,” Maria Cardella writes in her nomination of Washko for the Disciples of Mercy honor, calling him “devoted, dedicated, loyal and compassionate.” 

He is often the first person in church for 6:45 a.m. Mass as weekday sacristan and lector. He facilitates Bible studies, delivers sandwiches for the hungry to Joseph’s House in Camden, donates clothes, and is always willing to converse with others, believers or not, about the Catholic faith as a spiritual director.

“Once, a young man showed up at our church,” Cardella explains in her letter. “Jerry spent an entire morning and afternoon with this young man … listening to his concerns, offering his time … using himself as an instrument to connect with the Lord.”

“Jerry is truly a shepherd of the Lord,” she believes, drawing “as many as humanly possible” to God.

Washko insists that all he does is “a manifestation of God’s goodness.” A Catholic for 35 years, he claims his love of the Lord keeps him evangelizing.

“When you realize how much God loves each individual, you can’t help but spread that Good News,” he says.

Saint Vincent de Paul Parish Food Pantry

For the past 16 years, the Saint Vincent de Paul Parish Food Pantry has dedicatedly served the hungry in Mays Landing and its surrounding areas, providing individuals and families hope and dignity.

“They are present to the community and look out for the needs of the less-fortunate,” says Father Edward Heintzelman, parish pastor, who nominated the 20 men and women. They don’t boast about their accomplishments, he says. They just do what needs to be done.

Every Thursday, families know they can stop by the pantry for sustenance, which includes 25-pound bags of canned goods, nonperishable packages and frozen protein.

“Who knows where else [these families] are going to get their food?” notes Katy Hornikel, who with Marge Cannizzaro and Mary Ann Young, leads the pantry effort, in conjunction with the Community Food Bank of New Jersey.

In addition, for some individuals, the food pantry provides an opportunity to “talk to someone,” she adds. “Sometimes, we’re the only face they’ll see all day.”

Hornikel says the pantry serves 20-25 households each week, and she estimates that in August, 97 families received provisions. Those families included 224 adults and 67 children.

“The work is rewarding; it’s the right, Christian thing to do,” she says.

Holy Cross Parish’s Feeding Ministries

For almost half a century, residents of Cumberland County have had their spirits, hearts and needs cared for by Bridgeton’s Catholic feeding ministries: the Good Shepherd Dining Room, God’s Giving Hands and Pope Francis Food Pantry.

“Their beautiful work brings the Gospel of mercy to others,” says Father Matthew Weber, pastor of Holy Cross Parish, who nominated these ministries for the Catholic Charities award.

The recognition is a witness to the volunteers’ and parishioners’ “dedication, goodness, sacrifice and love of neighbor,” he adds.

Marjorie Waselik, lead coordinator for the Good Shepherd Dining Room, which serves a hot meal to guests five days a week in the Saint Teresa of Avila Church basement, says she is overwhelmed by the award, but “proud of those who continue to support us [with donations] of food and produce” that go into the lunches for the 70 daily visitors.

At three of the parishes churches (Immaculate Conception, Bridgeton; Saint Anthony, Port Norris, and Saint Mary, Rosenhayn), God’s Giving Hands “feeds the mind, body, and soul,” says Stephanie Robins, the ministry’s founder. Particularly geared toward local residents in transitional citizenship who are unable to receive aid from other programs, the bilingual ministry provides families fresh food and other pantry staples.

“All are welcome,” says Robins, noting that in the past three years, 70,000 people have been fed.

Sister Maria de Jesus Herrera, MDPVM, who assists Robins at the Bridgeton site, notes that the effort didn’t cease during COVID-19.  Instead of people coming to the volunteers, the volunteers went out to the people, driving to the remotest of areas in Cumberland County.

“I never expected this” award, she says, but receives it “in the name of the volunteers who are servants to the community.”

At the Pope Francis Food Pantry, 175 families a month – especially seniors and those on assistance – in Bridgeton and Port Norris receive non-perishable food items, household and hygiene products.

“We don’t need recognition, but it’s an honor,” organizer Virginia Supernavage says.

If anything, she hopes that the award will make people aware of the pantry, and possibly decide to get involved. “It’s fulfilling work,” she believes.