The Catholic Commission for Lake, Geauga and Eastern Cuyahoga counties hosted its 31st annual Peace and Justice Awards Dinner, honoring the St. Gabriel Food Pantry in Concord Township and Emily Currid, a junior at Gilmour Academy in Gates Mills. Both honorees are working to relieve food insecurity in the area while ensuring those in need are treated with dignity and respect.
The Bishop Anthony Pilla Youth Leadership Award was presented to Emily for her efforts to collect leftover, unused food from the Gilmour lunch program to help the hungry in Mayfield.
The Bishop Edward Pevec Sowers of Justice Award was given to the St. Gabriel Food Pantry, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
The awards dinner took place May 20 at the Center for Pastoral Leadership in Wickliffe.
“As people of faith, we have a unique lens of the Gospel, to view our brothers and sisters in need,” said Jason Lewis, commission director. He noted that “Catholic Charities, Diocese of Cleveland, strives to serve the most vulnerable, those who lack the resources to succeed, those who struggle financially and who long for acceptance. We know them as our neighbors, fellow parishioners, clients of our programs.”
Lewis said hundreds of Catholic Charities employees and many volunteers work together to serve those in need and to help convey the message of love from the Gospel.
Food insecurity was a major theme for this year’s awards program, said Lewis, who also serves as director of the diocesan Catholic Campaign for Human Development. Joining him at the dinner were Dobie Moser, senior director for the Diocesan Social Action Office (which is part of Catholic Charities), Jeff Campbell, director of the Catholic Commission for Summit County; Shawn Witmer, director of the Catholic Commission for Lorain County and the diocesan Catholic Relief Services; Deacon Paul Kipfstuhl, director of the Catholic Commission for Wayne, Ashland and Medina counties, and Cynthia Zalek, office manager. Kelly Bon, director of the Social Action Office, was unable to attend due to a death in her family.
Moser congratulated the honorees and presented the awards with Lewis.
“I am deeply honored to receive this award from the diocese for my initiative to address food waste and hunger in our community,” said Emily. “I am passionate about service and driven by a desire to make a tangible difference in the lives of those around me.” She said her Catholic upbringing impressed upon her the importance of compassion and serving the poor, values that inspired her to launch the food donation program at Gilmour.
Emily volunteers at Trials for Hope, a local group that helps the homeless in Cleveland by bringing them food, personal care items and other essentials. During her volunteer work, she said she saw people struggling to access necessities. “However, their resilience amazed me,” she added.
In addition, two summer ago, Emily went on a mission trip to the diocesan mission in El Salvador with her parish, St. Dominic in Shaker Heights.
“I witnessed the harsh realities of poverty and hunger firsthand. In El Salvador, I met men, women and children who walked miles to a job to afford food or to go to school to have a meal for lunch provided. Even through their struggles, their gratitude for what we see as mundane truly left an impact on me. These experiences exposed me to the profound challenges faced by those living in poverty and sparked a determination to address hunger locally, starting with the resources available at Gilmour Academy,” she added.
She worked with those at Gilmour to start a program collecting leftover, unserved food from the school lunch program and donating it to organizations that serve the hungry in Mayfield.
“Instead of discarding untouched food, we will package it safely and distribute it to the city where they can then distribute it to those who need it most,” Emily added. She said the plan involves coordinating with school staff to ensure proper food handling, to establish partnerships with the city and hopefully, with local charities, as well as organizing a student volunteer team to manage collection and packaging.
“My goal is to create a sustainable system that not only reduces waste, but also fosters a culture of generosity and awareness among my classmates, encouraging then to see the impact of small, collective efforts,” she said.
In presenting the award to the St. Gabriel Food Pantry, Moser noted that “when Christ opens our eyes and hearts to human suffering, we can’t turn away. The human family is God’s family. There is no us and them – only we.”
He said the food pantry’s work is done for others and is a gift to the whole diocese. “The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all evil in the world. Every person is made in the image and likeness of God, regardless of who they are. If you want to know what God looks like, look around … Thank you for being a witness to social justice.”
Paul Lewis, who spoke on behalf of the food pantry volunteers, said it was an honor to accept the award. “We help 20,000 guests every year,” he said, noting the food pantry is open weekdays and every other Saturday. It is a choice pantry, which allows clients to select the items they need. Efforts are taken to ensure clients are treated with the dignity and respect they need, he added.
“We started in a closet,” he said, describing how the program expanded. “Our vision is to be a beacon of God’s love providing nourishment and his love. I wish I could say we aren’t busy, but we are. And we couldn’t do what we do without the 130 weekly volunteers and our other partners,” Paul Lewis said. He said Catholic Charities, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank and the St. Gabriel community are among those who work with the pantry to make its work possible.
Father Tom Fanta, St. Dominic pastor, offered a prayer and a blessing to end the evening.