CCS of Northern Utah honors benefactors

IC Foto/Marie Mischel

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Bishop Oscar A. Solis addresses the June 2 Dream Builder’s Breakfast.

OGDEN — The 16th annual Dream Builder’s Breakfast on June 2 brought members of the Ogden community together to recognize those in their midst who help Catholic Community Services of Northern Utah fulfill its mission of providing help and creating hope for those in need. 

In northern Utah, CCS operates the Joyce Hansen Hall Food Bank, which gives food assistance to more than 2,300 households each month, “most of which are families with children;” and offers the Bridging the Gap program, which gives children in need “two bags of healthy, easy-to-prepare meals and snacks to sustain them through the weekend,” according to the website. They also have St. Martha’s Baby Project, which gives layettes containing essential items to mothers of newborn children.

Among those attending the breakfast were Bishop Oscar A. Solis, Father John Evans, vicar general; Weber County commissioners James Harvey and Gage Froerer and his wife, Gloria; Ogden City Council members  Angela Choberka and Shaun Myers; former Utah State Representative Rosemary Lesser and her husband, Dave; and Brad Mortensen, president of Weber State University. Father Victor Alvarado, parochial vicar of Saint Joseph Parish, gave the invocation.

In his remarks, Randy Chappell, director of CCS’s Basic Needs program, told the story of an 8-year-old boy who benefits from the Bridging the Gap program, and said “I like that I don’t have to worry any more” about having food on the weekend. 

“That’s why we do this work; that’s what your support makes possible,” Chappell told those at the breakfast. “That’s also why we call you Dream Builders – you’re not just helping us meet a need, you’re helping children and families dream again. You’re helping to build futures where food is not a question mark, where families can breathe easier and where hope is more than a wish, it’s a reality.”

Chappell also spoke of a woman who works two jobs but sometimes has to visit the food bank to provide for her children, and said, “My kids don’t know we’re struggling, they just know there’s food, and that means everything to me.” 

“Your generosity made that possible,” Chappell said before the awards program began.

Joining Chappell in presenting the awards were Bishop Solis; Brad Drake, executive director of CCS; and Katherina Holzhauser, president of the CCS Board of Trustees.

The 2025 Community Partner Award went to Wasatch Peaks Credit Union, which “has been a strong partner with CCS for many years,” by helping build the Backpack Bonanza program, bringing a team for the holiday food distributions, and recently started volunteering regularly in the Bridging the Gap distribution process, Chappell said.

Annette DeFries, recipient of this year’s Community Advocate Award, “has been a strong advocate of CCS for years,” Chappell said, adding that DeFries helps assemble layettes for the St. Martha’s Baby Project, and during the last holiday season she and her husband Doug were the team leaders for the “Light of the World” giving machines in Ogden.

The MarketStar Foundation was presented with the 2025 Humanitarian Award. The foundation is “specifically focuses on ensuring their support has the biggest impact,” Chappell said.

Over the years, MarketStar has “assisted with food drives, and are a key partner with the school districts in addressing the issue of hunger and other student needs,” Chappell said, while volunteers from the foundation assist with the Bridging the Gap program, and also helped buy reusable bags for the students to use.

“They recently organized a ‘Day of Giving,’ where they purchased all the items and sent 16 employees to assemble over 12,000 pantry packs to help feed kids over the weekends,” Chappell said.   

Dave Donahoe, who was given the Lifetime of Service Award, never takes credit for all the work he does, Chappell said. “Even last week he called and wanted to make sure we mentioned everyone else involved in what he does so we know it wasn’t just him.”

At Holy Family Parish, Donahoe has been instrumental in coordinating donations for CCS’ Backpack Bonanza, food drives “and so much more,” Chappell said. “He’s also a key member of the Knights of Columbus, and has been helping organize the Coats for Kids drive, where they donate 300 brand-new coats to kids in the area each year. He has been a backbone volunteer at Bridging the Gap since 2018, and we wouldn’t be able to get it done each week without him. … He is dependable, consistent, kind and has the most infectious personality that just draws in everyone around him.”

In his address, Bishop Solis thanked those present for their “tremendous support” of CCS, saying he was grateful to them for participating “in this tremendous mission that God has entrusted to us to promote love and service, especially to those in need.” 

The breakfast manifested “the kind of unity and solidarity, all united in purpose, in vision and in mission to be dream builders – catalysts for change and beacons of hope in our world,” he said. 

The world needs substantive change “to alleviate hunger, poverty and the culture of indifference to the cries and suffering of the poor,” the bishop said. “Your presence here today provides a glimpse of hope to our society’s poor and marginalized. Your generous support helps us offer a glimmer of hope to the weak and hungry so they can experience the love of God in their lives through our works of charity.”