By Msgr. Noel C. Burtenshaw

The call came in April 1981. Sister Margaret McAnoy answered the call and the program, sponsored by the Catholic community of North Georgia, was underway. This was the largest outreach of its kind in the history of the Church in North Georgia. This Religious of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters out of Monroe, Michigan, made it all happen.

In April, 1981, the city of Atlanta was enduring a deep crisis. The nation, indeed the entire world, watched in horror as children from the city's black community disappeared, later turning up murdered. It seemed that the rash of killings could not be solved. Community leaders, in desperation, reached out to rally support and help.

Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan challenged his Catholic parishes to be "a clear and unmistakable witness of the Church's presence to these people, their problems and the things which cause them." The challenge was answered. Camp Promise became the answer. The camp would be nurtured into life by Sister Margaret.

It was by no means a solo effort. In fact, the success of the summer-long camp for Atlanta's children lay precisely in the organizational skills that Sister Margaret brought to the ministry. Sister dropped her teaching at St. Pius X High School and her Cursillo apostolate and took hold of this merciful opportunity for Atlanta's children.

At the time, her own reflection on the summer camps was that they would be a "beginning on a small scale, rich with opportunities." Camp Promise would prove to be not so small, but immensely rich.

Sister Margaret organized the Camp at three different parish locations: Sts. Peter and Paul, St. Anthony and St. Paul of the Cross. All locations served the black community. However, Archbishop Donnellan made it clear the proposed Camp Promise would have to "involve the Catholic community as a whole. Specifically, our very modest program … says to our community, 'When someone's hurting, we all hurt.'"

The key, Sister Margaret knew, was a good volunteer program. She immediately set about recruiting 400 to 500 to work during the summer months at the three locations. "People don't need any specific talents," she would say. "We'll help them to see talents they didn't know they had."

The volunteers signed up. They hailed from every parish, city and rural. Seminarians signed up; so did sisters from across the nation. The story traveled far and wide. Almost every Catholic newspaper in every state carried the message. Sister Margaret set up her office and phones in the Catholic Center, which was more than full-time work. But she also hit the streets, speaking to groups, encouraging other churches to follow suit, making preparations at all points for a successful summer for the children of Atlanta.

The rest is history. On Palm Sunday, a special collection in all parishes gave her the money to run the program. The volunteers arrived and rolled up their sleeves. The camps opened in June. A remarkable picture, taken by The Georgia Bulletin, of Archbishop Donnellan riding the bus with the children on their way to Camp Promise was flashed across the wire and was displayed in newspapers all over the country.

On June 8, 1981, the camps opened. They stayed open every weekday until August 14. It is estimated that almost 1,000 children were served, as Sister Margaret McAnoy, quietly holding the reins, guided the program to a complete success.

Sister Margaret McAnoy, the youngest of four children, was born in Detroit, Michigan. Her brother, Thomas, is a priest of Detroit and her sister, Joann, is also a religious of the Immaculate Heart of Mary community. The other sister, Jane, is married. Sister first came to Atlanta in 1969 to teach in St. Pius X High School. From 1973 to 1980, she was principal of Our Lady of Lourdes School bringing new life to that little school in the black community that was, at that time, in danger of closing. In 1980, Sister Margaret became part-time teacher at St. Pius X and part-time coordinator of the Cursillo Movement. She is now full-time coordinator of the Cursillo Movement.

The motto given to the Camp Promise volunteer project was "When we need the best, we ask for you." Camp Promise well deserved this challenging motto. But most easily, those same words could have been applied to this valiant woman when the decision was made to choose her as the Camp Coordinator.

Sister Margaret McAnoy is our person of 1981. The Georgia Bulletin, representing the parishes of our Archdiocese, is most happy with this choice.