The event: If to draw, an artist must close his eyes and sing, as Picasso once said, then the 15 artists who exhibited at the Catholic Charities 14th annual Gala of the Arts were crooning in perfect harmony in Navy Pier’s Grand Ballroom on Sept.11. More than 500 guests enjoyed art from local and national artists as well as photos taken by Catholic Charities clients through the “After Supper: Visions of My Life Program.”
The event helps fund Catholic Charities’ ongoing emergency assistance programs routed through their “311” call center. Since 2008, the agency has provided more than 9 million meals to the hungry and homeless and has responded to more than 800,000 requests for financial assistance and shelter for individuals and families in crisis throughout Cook and Lake counties.
Emceed by NBC 5 news anchor, Allison Rosati, this year’s Mandantum Award winners were Bill and Jeanne Hardy, Bill and Mary Alice Jovan, Jim Serritella and his late wife, Ruby, for their living example to serve the poor through sustained acts of charity.
Cause célebre: “With all the various agencies that have been closing (due to Illinois’ budget impasse) more people are coming to Catholic Charities than they ever have before,” said Monsignor Michael M. Boland, administrator, president and CEO of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago. “They come for food, they come for clothes and it’s our entry-point for how the million people that we serve come to us.”
The City of Chicago has turned over much of this need for emergency care to Catholic Charities, according to event co-founder, Mary Alice Jovan. “We feed these people, we clothe them, we find them housing, we pay their rent if they are in a crisis,” she said. “Living in the city, the needs of so many people are all around us (and) it gives you faith in the world to do these things.”
Bottom line: The event raised $285,000 for Catholic Charities’ emergency assistance programs.