Vital works of Catholic Social Services
highlighted through Spirit of Service Awards

By Brandon A. Evans

Hundreds of people recently had the chance to hear a firsthand witness about global hunger from the man who runs the world’s largest food aid organization.

James Morris, executive director of the United Nations World Food Program, was the keynote speaker at the annual Spirit of Service Awards Dinner on April 26 in Indianapolis.

Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein thanked those who turned out to support the work of Catholic Social Services in the archdiocese. He also recognized six individuals and one corporation during the evening for their efforts to make the world a better place by honoring them with Spirit of Service Awards.

“Your generosity means that our programs can help meet an increasing demand for social services,” Archbishop Buechlein said.

Alecia DeCoudreaux, the event chair and also secretary and deputy general counsel for Eli Lilly and Company, announced during the evening that about $245,000 had been raised.

“This is such a successful evening because you recognized that we need your help in our mission to serve others and to provide valuable programs and services in our community, and you responded to that need with your incredible support,” DeCoudreaux told those present.

This year, Catholic Social Services expects to provide food, clothing or other material assistance for more than 8,900 people; Christmas assistance for more than 2,300 people; and professional counseling services to more than 2,700 people.

“This past year has been both challenging and invigorating for those of us working at Catholic Social Services,” said David Bethuram, associate executive director of Catholic Social Services of Central Indiana. “It’s been challenging because the needs of our community continue to grow, yet it’s been invigorating because we have remained focused on our mission—investing our energies to serve the poor and those in need.”

In his keynote address, Morris gave credit to the archdiocese for all it has done to alleviate poverty, and urged those present to continue trying to do more, especially for the world as a whole.

In 2003, the World Food Program fed 110 million people in 81 countries.

“We’re told to love our neighbor,” Morris said. “The Bible doesn’t put
a geographic limit … with that
commandment.”

He commended the late Pope John Paul II—whom he had a private audience with twice—as being someone with “a life for all of us to study.”

“That man made the most of his opportunities, and the same is expected of all of us,” Morris said.

He told stories about some of the places he visited, noting that while the world responds to disasters like that caused by the tsunami late last year, oftentimes the world simply isn’t aware of all the suffering that is caused by hunger.

There are 850 million hungry people in the world, he said, and 300 million of those are children. About 25,000 people a day die from hunger, and about 18,000 of them are children.

“You cannot comprehend what a child’s life is like in North Korea,” he said. “A 7-year-old North Korean boy, compared to his 7-year-old counterpart in South Korea—he’s eight inches shorter and 20 pounds lighter.

“Forty-nine percent of the children under 5 in Guatemala are chronically malnourished,” Morris said, “30 percent in Honduras, 25 percent in Nicaragua and 20 percent in El Salvador.

“And a child that is chronically malnourished early in life never has a chance to catch up,” he said.

Those Central American countries, he said, are not even that poor compared to some countries in Africa, where the World Food Program does half of its work.

“Africa is the part of the world that has the least amount of resources to address this critical problem,” Morris said.

Add to the problem of hunger the problem of AIDS, and things get much more complicated.

In Zimbabwe, he said, where 25 percent of people are HIV positive, life expectancy has plummeted from age 68 to age 33.

“ HIV now has the face of a woman,” Morris said. “A 15-year-old girl is two and half times as likely to be infected as a young boy.

“Women do 80 percent of the agriculture, and virtually do all the work. [They] give all of the home care, prepare all of the food. The burden on women is out of site.

“The impact, the burden, on women on occasion makes you a bit ashamed to be a man.”

Even more than that, 14 million children have been orphaned in sub-Saharan Africa because of parents who died of AIDS, and in the next six years the number will climb to 20 million, he said.

He has seen a 15-year-old girl—who is as small as an 8-year-old—who suddenly found herself as the head of a large family when her parents died.

“When a child finds himself or herself in a predicament like this, absolutely in no way of their own making, the rest of us have to step in and help,” he said.

“And I must tell you,” Morris added, “that the work of the Catholic Church around the world, [of] your missionaries—you should be so proud and so grateful and so generous in your support of them.”

It is overwhelming at times to think of how much money needs to be raised to help alleviate world hunger, Morris said, but it is within our grasp to eliminate child hunger.

If $5-7 billion, each year, were placed toward ending child hunger, he said, it would end.

“The same amount of money the world invested in feeding the people of Berlin in 1948 during the air lift, in terms of 2005 dollars, it’s enough to feed every hungry child in the world,” Morris said.

“When you feed a child, when you enable that child to go to school … everything about that child’s life changes for the better,” he said.

“I’m very focused and preoccupied with the notion that if there is one thing that’s reprehensible, that’s shameful, that’s unacceptable in the world today, it’s the fact that there are 300 million hungry kids,” he said. “So much good will in the world, so much technology, so much money, so much food—there should be no hungry children.

“If there’s one thing that unites the world [and] the world’s great religions, it’s our concern across the board for humanity,” he said. “We come together around the notion that we’re responsible for each other—we’re both our brother’s keeper and our brother’s brother.”

Morris is a native of Terre Haute and was a longtime civic leader in Indianapolis.

He served for six years in city government then became the director of community development for Lilly Endowment Inc., eventually serving as the president of the Indianapolis-based endowment.

He and his wife, Jacqueline, have three children and six grandchildren.

Following his keynote address, the winners of the Spirit of Service Awards were recognized.

A brief biographical video about each winner was shown, along with a video of their own comments and thanks.

Bonnie Schott, a member of St. Roch Parish in Indianapolis, thanked her husband and children in particular.

“I’ve always told my kids, true happiness comes from serving others,” Schott said. “You can’t imagine how many boxes they’ve lifted and how many bags they’ve carried, and how many times my husband and my children have gone out on Christmas Eve to deliver last minute presents to the poor.”

Mary McClelland, a member of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Indianapolis, said that she was thankful for her family, and also for being given the chance to offer service to others.

Doing work in the community is “where I want to be,” she said.

Dr. Philomena Dias, a member of St. Monica Parish in Indianapolis, was grateful for the award, and said that her inspiration is Our Lady of Medjugorje.

“It’s not for me, it is for the ministry, and I am very glad to acknowledge and to receive this award on behalf of the mission of New Life in Christ Ministries,” she said.

Ella Wagner, a member of St. Pius X Parish in Indianapolis, said that “my life is what God intended for it to be, what my parents expected it to be and what my family has allowed it to be.

“I think that my parents set an example for me as a child growing up that service to others is primary,” Wagner said.

The community service award was given to J. Albert Jr. and Maribeth Smith, members of St. Luke Parish in Indianapolis.

“I would just like to thank all the many volunteers of Catholic Social Services for everything you’re doing to make our community a better community and a better place to live,” said J. Albert Smith.

“This means a lot to me personally because of a huge inspiration in my life, and that was my dad,” said Maribeth Smith. “He spent so many years as I was being raised giving back to the community through many, many good causes.”

The corporate leadership award was given to Marian, Inc., a family-owned business involved in the manufacture and fabrication of flexible, soft-material component parts.

Bill Witchger, chief executive officer, thanked the archdiocese for the award on behalf of the company.

“We at Marian have a tradition of sharing our success with the less fortunate,” he said. †