There was a new twist to the Catholic Commission of Summit County’s 46th annual Bishop William Cosgrove Justice Dinner and Silent Auction.
Ivanna Hapii, a Ukrainian refugee who arrived in Akron earlier this year with help from a Welcome Circle – which was one of the honorees – created a special painting for the silent auction. With the help of a translation app, Hapii spoke about the family’s relocation to Akron and how they are settling into their new life here.
Hapii, her husband Oleh and their three children, a 12-year-old daughter and sons ages 4 and 6, fled the city of Chortkiv in the Ternopil region of Western Ukraine. They were selected by the Ukraine Welcome Circle of St. Paul and St. Francis de Sales Catholic parishes and Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church for resettlement in Akron. The Welcome Circle received the Bishop Pilla Leadership Award, one of the two top honors presented at the Nov. 16 dinner.
Hapii, who was educated at Lviv National Academy of Arts and worked as the chief artist and manager of the children’s area of a charitable foundation in Ukraine, created a bright, modern painting in shades of red that she titled “Mood.”
The artwork was wrapped in black paper until she revealed it as the dinner began. She said the idea was to provide some surprise, mystique and intrigue about the piece.
“I wanted to create something bright and to help those in need because at one time, Americans helped us,” Hapii said, referring to the family’s escape from war-torn Ukraine. Her husband, who also is college educated, worked as a police officer and in security in Ukraine. She said he always supports her artistic endeavors.
Jeff Campell, director of the Catholic Commission of Summit County, explained the organization’s ministry and highlighted some of its accomplishments during 2024. These included supporting the formation of three local parish Welcome Circles, promoting the Walking with Moms in Need initiative to support respect life work, co-founding the Akron Interfaith Advocates Against the Death Penalty, promoting human trafficking awareness events and advocacy in parishes, schools and parish service ministry groups and leading a civility, depolarization and civil dialogue initiative as well as participating in and supporting the Diocesan Social Action Office’s Pilgrimage for Justice last summer.
“I hope you have a profound experience of the love of God in Christ,” Campbell told the nearly 200 attendees who gathered at Our Lady of Cedars in Fairlawn.
Kelly Bon, DSAO director, made some brief remarks and introduced the leadership of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Cleveland, under which the social action office operates.
Dobie Moser, senior director, mission, CYO and social action for Catholic Charities, told the group, “We’re united by this simple fact: Each of us is deeply committed to our Catholic social mission of providing help, creating hope and serving all.” The antidote to despair is action, Moser said, noting that “taking one step feels better than standing still.”
Moser said we share work as Christians to bend the arc toward justice to build a world where all people are valued equally as brothers and sisters in Christ as members of God’s human family.
He ended his remarks by leading the group in singing “We Shall Overcome.”
Awards presented were:
The Rose Juriga Youth Justice Award was presented to Walsh Jesuit High School senior Grace Campagna, Jesuit Refugee Services Club student leader, who is involved in numerous other clubs and causes. “My life would not be complete if I didn’t choose to live it for those who don’t have a choice,” she said. She is the daughter of Steve and Shari Campagna and was nominated by Miles Tiemeyer, campus minister at Walsh Jesuit.
The Faithful Servant Awards were presented to Tim Ott, anti-human trafficking advocate from Queen of Heaven Parish in Uniontown and Lorie Papp, St. Vincent de Paul Society member from Immaculate Conception Parish in Kenmore (Akron). Ott’s work focuses on preventing human trafficking, which he labels as evil, by creating local education and awareness. Papp is a longtime SVDP Society member who has organized fundraisers and responded with care as she registers neighbors who are facing poverty. She credits her parents’ example with her involvement in social action.
The Laudato Si Care for Creation Award was presented posthumously to Claudia Kotich, Care for Creation Ministry leader at St. Rita Parish, Solon. Kotich lived her life in service to others through her career as a biologist at Portage County Water Treatment where she tested for and reduced pollution in drinking water. She also advocated for fair trade to support sustainable food practices around the world. Kotich taught her children how to grow vegetables for themselves and others, to recycle and to be conscious of earth’s limited resources.
The Bishop Pilla Leadership Award was presented to the Akron Ohio for Ukraine Welcome Circle, also known as AO4U, which works to mobilize Americans to sponsor and welcome refugees to the United States. The Welcome Circle is comprised of members from three South Akron Catholic churches, St. Paul, Holy Ghost Ukrainian and St. Francis de Sales. Then group helped welcome the stranger – the five-member Hapii family – who arrived in April for a two-year humanitarian parole period. The group raised funds for the family’s needs, had a furniture drive to furnish their home and identified dignified, affordable housing.
The Bishop William Cosgrove Justice Award was presented to the Friends of Rwandan Education, a nonprofit that connects the local community with the needs of the Rwandan people. The group, based at St. Mary Parish in Hudson, has completed the following projects: a well, a classroom building, two dormitories, an outdoor kitchen, a library with 22,000 volumes, a science lab, a computer lab, lavatories, a thriving garden, a chicken coop, purchased five cows, acres of crops and a nurse’s station. The group also is promoting awareness of the 1994 Rwandan genocide and effective responses to the extreme poverty in Africa.
For more information on the Diocesan Social Action Office and its ministries, click here.