Supplements

CURRENT ISSUE

catholic social services recognizes those who make a difference

Story and photos by LIZ QUIRIN
Messenger editor

If a child needs a place of safety away from home, or needs a new home because things just don’t work where they live right now, Catholic Social Services (CSS) can and will help.

Whether the person in need is eight months or 80, whether an individual or a family needs to “sort things out” with a counselor, CSS provides a safety, counseling and a host of other services.

CSS, with offices in Belleville, Mt. Vernon, Carbondale and Mt. Carmel depends on its staff and a wide range of volunteers.

In Belleville, 140 people gather to recognize a number of individuals at an annual Christian Service Awards dinner.
The Carbondale regional CSS office has hosted a breakfast for the past seven years to highlight the services it offers and for the last two years has recognized someone with a Community Service Award.

All of those recognized have at least one common denominator: They look beyond themselves to see those who need help locally or globally, and act to alleviate suffering wherever they can.

In Belleville, Charles Kramer, the McGlynn sisters and Emily Tally were recognized for the service. Kramer was described as a lifelong volunteer who, in 1995 with two friends, incorporated the Friends of Peace community volunteer organization.

The organization, now know as Community Kindness, operates a resale shoppe in Belleville and offers cash grants to charitable service organizations. In 2010, the organization gave more than $60,000 in grants.

The McGlynn sisters — Maura, Margaret and Kathleen studying at universities, and Kathleen and Madelyn, students at Althoff Catholic High School — serve others in many ways.

The sisters met Father Christopher Michael Mujule, an international priest from Uganda, now serving in this diocese, and he described to them the devastating effects of malaria, a disease that is preventable if families can afford the protection of insecticide-treated mosquito nets.

With so much poverty in his country, Father Mujule said few families could afford the netting, and many children were dying because they could not get the help they needed.

The girls, with help from their family, formed NETwork Against Malaria, a non-profit organization that is headquartered in the McGlynn basement, one of the girls said.

Soliciting funds and creating other chapters of the organization, they collected $55,000 and distributed 4,400 malaria bednets to schools in Uganda.

Taking care of the needs of those closer to home, Emily Tally has been working in the educational field with special needs children for 33 years.

Besides being a tireless volunteer in her St. Augustine of Hippo Parish, Tally also serves as a co-sponsor for the St. Vincent de Paul Soup Bus the first Wednesday of every month.

She knows the people in the neighborhoods where the soup bus goes, and inquires about someone missing who generally comes on the bus for a meal. Tally describes her service as “answering to the call” which comes from God.

At the end of the dinner, Bishop Edward K. Braxton offered comments and a benediction.

The Carbondale regional office welcomed 300 people to its annual breakfast, this year at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Marion.

After the free breakfast, Susan and Tony Sena, members of St. Joseph Parish in Marion, were recognized with a Community Service Award.

From the description of their volunteer work, most of their waking time is spent at their parish or doing something for the parish from their involvement with the Knights and Ladies Auxiliary to the Women’s Guild. They also serve as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion to the homebound and those in assisted or nursing homes.
They also participate in parish activities and volunteer at the Marion Ministerial Alliance Soup kitchen among other organizations to which they belong.

Then, guests were given information about CSS and the people in the area affected by the agency’s presence.
Cristy and Sergio Sanchez talked about their dreams coming true when they decided not only to welcome two foster children into their home but later to begin adoption procedures to make
the two girls a permanent part of their family.
While they had hoped for an infant, when they were asked to take the two girls into their home, “it just felt right,” Sergio Sanchez said.

Msgr. Ken Schaefer talked about the ways CSS has assisted with children at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School when disaster strikes the school family or a particular family at the school.

Recently, Msgr. Schaefer said, a mother of two OLMC students died, with the students’ father deployed to Afghanistan. The CSS counselors stepped in to give folks a hand.

A few years ago, a family with students at the school was involved in a car accident with fatalities. Again, counselors went to the school to assist with the grief process.

“Sometimes children need help to process things going on in their lives,” Msgr. Schaefer said. “Having CSS available gives the staff and the pastor peace of mind.”

Sister Barbara Lux, sscm, directs Awakenings, a life-skills program in the diocese for CSS. Sister Barbara has become almost legendary in the region because the program, directed at people who have become involved in the justice system, has experienced success.

The 14-week program deals with boundary issues, stereotyping, victim awareness and anger management among other issues. “I totally believe in the program,” Sister Barbara said. “I see people change, and I hope it continues for a long time.

Probation officer Jay Gunn refers clients to the program. About 85 percent of the participants have committed acts of domestic violence. The program “is needed, is important and is changing lives,” Gunn said.

At the end of the breakfast, Bishop Stanley Schlarman offered a reflection and a blessing.