BY PRISCILLA GREEAR

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--For 18 years of creative and dedicated service helping refugees make a new beginning in Georgia, Tam Van Bui was given the Henry DeGive Award at Catholic Social Services annual luncheon and meeting June 25.

The award recipient is chosen by a committee of the board of CSS and is named in honor of its first recipient, attorney Henry DeGive, a founding and lifetime member of the board. It symbolizes the spirit of CSS and its mission of compassion and hope toward those in need.

Tam Van Bui, a former refugee himself and the first CSS staff person to be chosen, was honored for his innovative contributions to the CSS program serving refugees and immigrants.

When he received the award at the Atlanta Hilton luncheon, he immediately gave credit to his staff who serve in the Multicultural Services Program and asked them to stand.

"I appreciate that they recognize my contribution to the refugee program," he said regarding the award. "It (is) nice to receive something."

His accomplishments include the creation of four neighborhood community centers for refugees in apartment complexes which provide immediate access to resettlement and other services within the community. Other projects begun under his leadership include the refugee mental health project, which offers counseling to refugees on cultural adjustment and other mental health issues, and the vocational language and job skills training program.

Under his guidance, the program serves approximately 30 percent of all refugees who arrive in Georgia each year.

A former South Vietnamese refugee who arrived in the U.S. with his family after the fall of Saigon, Tam Van Bui says that he utilizes his knowledge and experience in directing the program and hopes to inspire refugees with the attitude, "If I can make it, you can make it."

CSS executive director Pam Buckmaster said that she was struck by his "great humility" when she informed him that he had been chosen by the board for the award.

The decision of the board also honored his leadership in the Vietnamese community and his parish, Our Lady of Vietnam, Buckmaster said.

A motivational talk was given by Ron White, director of grant-making for Share Our Strength, on the value of servant leadership in the spirit of Jesus to promote justice, bring hope and strength to the poor and oppressed and transform society in light of the Gospel.

He credited CSS with bringing the spirit of Isaiah's words to life, saying, "When you counsel traumatized immigrants, or abused children, or couples in distress...To the extent that your words and actions move to the interior of your subjects, open them to new possibilities or ways of handling their circumstances... you too 'bring glad tidings' and are acting in the same 'spirit' as Jesus."

He encouraged individuals not only to provide charity to the oppressed, but also to work for justice and to liberate people from negative circumstances, and said the CSS Parish Social Ministry Program fulfills these functions through engaging congregations in community organizing and through poverty and justice education.

In presentations, the Archbishop's Cup was presented by Archbishop John F. Donoghue to St. Andrew's Parish in Roswell, the winning team at the Archbishop's Cup Golf Classic fund-raiser in May.

The Ben Landey Pro-Bono Award, honoring attorneys who selflessly serve the suffering, was awarded to Socheat Chea, the son of Vietnamese refugees, and to Marcelo Estrada, originally from El Salvador. Both lawyers have diligently served the struggling and oppressed and have taken many cases upon referral by CSS.

Warm praises for CSS's charitable endeavors and enthusiastic introductions were given by emcee Paula Gwynn Grant.

While awards nourished many spirits, the lunch of chicken with stuffing and black olives, boiled potatoes, wheat rolls and a medley of asparagus, carrots and yellow squash nourished bodies. Norma Malone, a native of Mexico and dance and language teacher, brightened the room as she swirled among the tables in a ruffled green dress performing a folkloric dance.