CCS annual awards dinner spotlights local humanitarians for giving back to the community

Friday, Nov. 14, 2014

SALT LAKE CITY — More than 650 dignitaries, distinguished guests and friends of Catholic Community Services attended the 2014 CCS Humanitarian Awards Dinner held at Little America Hotel Nov. 6, to honor humanitarians for bringing hope to those in need.

CCS offers 10 programs that provide food, shelter, and other support to those in need along the Wasatch Front and in northern Utah. The non-profit organization operates with 6.3 percent administrative costs; all other donations go directly to the people being served.

Among the dignitaries in attendance were the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City and CCS chairman; Monsignor J. Terrence Fitzgerald, vicar general emeritus; Rabbi Benny Zippel of the Chabad Lubavitch of Utah; President Henry B. Eyring, Elder Russell M. Ballard, Elder Quentin L. Cook and Elder Neil L. Andersen of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; the Rt. Rev. Scott B. Hayashi of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah; members of the Skaggs family and representatives of the ALSAM Foundation; Utah Lt. Governor Spencer Cox; Utah State Senator Margaret Dayton; and Salt Lake County Councilman Sam Granato. 

Former Utah Governor Jon M. Huntsman and First Lady Mary Kaye Huntsman were honored as the Humanitarians of the Year. For the past 11 years they have made it a family tradition to serve the homeless Christmas dinner at the CCS Saint Vincent de Paul Dining Hall. 

In giving thanks to the Catholic Church and to two Catholic orphanages, one in China and the other in India, Mary Kaye Huntsman told the emotional stories of how, after she and Jon had five children, they adopted two more daughters. She also added gratitude for the education two of their sons received at Judge Memorial Catholic High School,” she said. “Our family is better today because of the influence of the Catholic Church.”

Jon Huntsman thanked CCS for its many programs. “Breaking the bonds of addiction, finding a roof over your head and resettling in the land of opportunity brings hope,” he said. “Thank you, thank you, thank you for providing the basic needs of food and shelter for those who sometimes get down on their luck; the programs that move people toward dignity and self-sufficiency is a great tradition that must continue.”

Elder L. Tom Perry of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and his wife, Barbara Perry, were recognized as Humanitarians. 

The Mormons and Catholics share the ideal of serving others and “together is the most effective way,” said Tom Perry, adding that “we will continue to work together for the betterment of mankind.”

The ALSAM Foundation earned the Community Partner of the Year Award for supporting a broad range of interests that have helped to improve the community.

“Sam Skaggs said to me, ‘My goal is to do everything I can to give back for God’s gift to me,’” said Bishop Wester. “He did just that.”

When Skaggs donated the money to build the Skaggs Catholic Center in Draper, “he asked one thing in return and that was that we accept and educate poor kids,” said Dr. Galey Colosimo, Juan Diego Catholic High School principal.

“My father was very observant and when he saw a need, he would approach that need and do something about it,” said Susie S. Balukoff, Skaggs’ daughter, who spoke on behalf of the family.

Of her father’s many accomplishments, Balukoff said she was most impressed with her father’s donation of the CCS Weigand Center, which provides shelter, counseling, learning skills, job placement skills, computers, and a phone for the homeless; it is located adjacent to the St. Vincent de Paul Dining Hall.

Balukoff also said her father treasured Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata’s example and teachings. 

“My father realized how important it was to satisfy the basic needs: food, shelter and water, and then education, and that was an integral part to what was needed. The four of us children are very grateful for his example and we are trying to emulate that as we learn how to help others,” she said.

Also at the dinner, Pamela Mufuka was spotlighted as the Refugee Education Initiative and is a recipient of the Roger Boyer Foundation Scholarship. 

Mufuka was 7 when she fled the Democratic Republic of the Congo due to a civil war. She was in a refugee camp in Zambia until she was 14. She has been in Utah for five years and lives in a foster home with the Giebler family. She attends the University of Utah, and is studying biology in preparation for a medical degree. 

“There wasn’t a hospital in the refugee camp, and seeing people dying every day made me realize that if I study hard and become a doctor, someday I can go back to Africa where I can help people,” she said.

Jan Luger was awarded the Unsung Hero (see story, below), and Danielle Stamos, the CCS public information officer, was named the Employee of the Year.