Six To Receive Archbishop Donoghue Awards

Published: August 3, 2006

ATLANTA—Catholic Charities of Atlanta, Inc. will present the 2006 Archbishop Donoghue Awards to six recipients on Aug. 16 at 6 p.m. at a reception at the Cathedral of Christ the King.

The Archbishop Donoghue Award was established in 2003 in honor of the emeritus archbishop’s commitment to volunteerism. For the third year in a row, Catholic Charities (formerly known as Catholic Social Services) will recognize six parish volunteers who have gone beyond the usual scope of volunteerism and whose contributions reflect the social teachings of Jesus Christ, with special concern for those most in need and most vulnerable.

This year the selection committee based the awards on four categories: service to families, service to children, service to individuals, and service to communities.

The 2006 Archbishop Donoghue Award honorees are Tom and May May Bickes, Lee Buechele, Jim and Jeanice Glennon, and Lenore DeMarco.

Tom and May May Bickes, parishioners at St. Brigid Church in Alpharetta, will be recognized for outstanding service to families. Mr. and Mrs. Bickes created the adopt-a-family program with Catholic Charities and have helped hundreds of families each Christmas for the past 17 years. Because of their leadership, over 500 families celebrated Christmas in 2005 with gifts under the tree.

Buechele, who attends Corpus Christi Church in Stone Mountain, will be honored for his dedicated service to children. He began one of the two community sports outreach programs for young people in DeKalb County that emphasizes teamwork, sportsmanship and giving every player a chance to play. The program is open to any child regardless of race, religion or national origin and focuses on giving refugee and immigrant children a chance to play and to be accepted in a new country. Last year Buechele developed a new program called “Swarm,” which addresses the needs of students in grades eight through 10 and involves academics, skills training, competition, survival skills, community service and fun. He also organizes basketball camps for boys and girls during the summer.

Members of St. Ann Church in Marietta, Jim and Jeanice Glennon will be honored for great service to individuals in need. The couple volunteer in numerous ministries at St. Ann’s, including the coordination of 400 volunteers in providing over 7,000 meals for individuals in homeless shelters each year. Together they also cook and deliver meals for Meals on Wheels and coordinate the Adopt-a-Senior Christmas stocking project each year.

Lenore DeMarco of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Cartersville will be recognized for unselfish service to her community. Even though she speaks little Spanish herself, DeMarco took the lead in her parish in welcoming the new and growing number of Latino families and individuals who have flocked to the Cartersville area. As a model of Catholic social teaching, DeMarco organizes drives in her parish to help those in need. She visits Latino families in their homes and attends their family and community events. Through collaboration with North Metro Technical College and parish donations, she made it possible to continue the adult literacy program and to provide General Educational Development (GED) classes. She teaches English as a Second Language classes in the evenings, and under her leadership St. Francis of Assisi Parish offered Spanish classes for adults open to the community.

The awards reception will take place in the parish hall at the Cathedral, which is located at 2699 Peachtree Rd., NE.