CCS Humanitarian Dinner will be Nov. 18

Friday, Oct. 24, 2025

SALT LAKE CITY — This year’s CCS Humanitarian Dinner will honor the Most Reverend William K. Weigand, Bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Sacramento and seventh Bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City; the Utah Bar Foundation; and St. John the Baptist Parish in Draper.

The dinner also will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the organization, which was begun by the Most Rev. Duane G. Hunt, fifth Bishop of Salt Lake City in 1945, “and in our first year we operated from a small space in the red brick chancery office on South Temple Street, offering family assistance, food, clothing and support for those in need,” said Maresha Bosgieter, CCS’ development director.

Adoption and foster care services began immediately after that, “caring for nine children in foster homes and placing 21 infants for adoption,” Bosgieter said. “These first steps set the foundation for 80 years of service, growing into the programs that continue to provide hope today.”

Though CCS no longer offers adoption services, their programs have expanded to include bags of groceries for schoolchildren on weekends, and care for refugee foster children, among others. 

The Humanitarian Awards Dinner is “a fabulous opportunity to see all the familiar faces of our supporters who join us year after year, as well as meeting new friends who will be joining us to celebrate all of these amazing individuals who believe in our mission and allow us to serve those most in need,” Bosgieter said.

Bishop Weigand, who is the recipient of the Humanitarian of the Year Award, was appointed to the Diocese of Salt Lake City by Pope John Paul II in 1980. Prior to that he served as chancellor in the Diocese of Boise, and also served in a mission in Colombia run by the Boise diocese. In 1993, he was appointed Bishop of Sacramento, retiring in 2008.  

“Although Utah was not the first or last place he served, it was definitely a special one to him,” Bosgieter said, adding that Father John Evans, vicar general of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, mentioned that Bishop Weigand plans to be buried at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Salt Lake City.  

“Honoring his work and listening to a recollection of his experience will have a special meaning for us this year as we are just finishing up a $7 million remodel of the Bishop Weigand Resource Center,” a day shelter in Salt Lake City that provides a variety of resources for people experiencing homelessness, Bosgieter said.

“Across all his posts [Bishop Weigand] has been instrumental in advancing care for the poor and vulnerable, improving services to parishioners and restoring and improving infrastructure,” Bosgieter said. “He has a strong commitment to Catholic education and vocations as well. … He was noted for solid leadership, community building, outreach to the Spanish-speaking, and the $9.7 million restoration of the Cathedral of the Madeleine over his more than 13-year tenure here.” 

Bishop Weigand is unable to attend the Humanitarian Dinner, but a video message from him will be transmitted at the event.

“We will also throw in some footage of the Bishop Weigand Resource Center remodel, so we are excited to share the amazing new space with our attendees and talk about some of the increased services (such as on-site mental health) that we hope to have in place shortly,” Bosgieter said. 

The Utah Bar Foundation, recipient of this year’s Partner of the Year Award, “has been a strong partner with CCS in the work our immigration department does for many years,” Bosgieter said. “Multiple times over the past four years, as the need for our services has skyrocketed or funding was cut by another donor, they have stepped up to ensure that we can continue serving a population that usually has nowhere else to go.”

St. John the Baptist Parish has been selected to receive the Parish of the Year award.

 The parish community has coordinated multiple drives for CCS, “including a large holiday drive last year that filled an entire van with blankets, sleeping bags, hand warmers and other essentials to keep our homeless friends warm,” Bosgieter said. “They also organize two volunteer groups each month, one for lunch service and one for Saturday dinner service.”

Among the other recognitions at the dinner will be the CCS employee of the year. In addition, two of the organization’s refugee foster care youth who are this year’s recipients of the Good News Scholarship from the Gerald & Shari Seiner Family Charitable Fund will be acknowledged.

 

WHAT: 2025 Humanitarian Awards Dinner

WHEN: Tuesday, Nov. 18; social hour will begin at 6 p.m., followed by the dinner 

WHERE: Little America Hotel, 500 Main St., Salt Lake City

For information, contact Maresha Bosgieter at mbosgieter@ccsutah.org. Sponsorships, as well as individual tickets, can be purchased at https://ccsutah.org/awards-dinner?view=form&form_id=17 until Nov. 11.