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Friday, March 29, 2024

Farmer’s wife reaps Catholic United Financial’s volunteer award

Mary Lee Androli, pictured outside her home May 31, is the first recipient of Catholic United Financial’s Volunteer of the Year award. She received the award May 19 at her parish, St. Andrew in Elysian. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

As Mary Lee Androli of St. Andrew in Elysian gets closer to 80 years of age, she is asked more frequently: When is she going to slow down?

The answer is always the same: Not now.

The 77-year-old farmer’s wife, who grew up just 10 miles from where she now lives, finds great joy in her many volunteer efforts. Most of the time, she either organizes or leads them — or both.

That inspired a longtime friend and fellow parishioner to nominate her for Catholic United Financial’s Volunteer of the Year award. She was selected among 17 other nominees in CUF’s five-state region, and she received her award during Mass at her parish May 19.

It marked the first year of an award that CUF created to honor Catholic volunteers nominated by its members, said Kristina Sherrett, CUF member engagement coordinator who organized the award program and presented the award with Nate Lamusga, CUF’s member engagement director. CUF is a nonprofit fraternal benefit company based in Arden Hills that serves Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin.

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In typical fashion, Androli had to be summoned from the church kitchen during Mass to come into the sanctuary to accept her award. Her longtime friend and nominator, Kathy Rientz, who grew up with her, said Androli was busy preparing breakfast for high school seniors and teens who recently had been confirmed.

For Rientz, Androli winning the award was a moment of heavenly praise: “I said, ‘Thank you, Lord,’ because
I thought she was very deserving of it.”

Father Michael Ince, pastor of St. Andrew, agreed. He used one word to describe Androli: “Irreplaceable.”

“There’s so much that we just count on her for,” he said. “I think often that’s where we get to (on parish projects): ‘Well, check with Mary Lee.’ It happens a lot.”

She welcomes it. Volunteering has been her life’s blood — sometimes literally — for decades. One of her earlier efforts was regularly donating blood, then taking over as bloodmobile coordinator, a volunteer post she has held for the last 30 years and is “very proud of.” She organizes and leads five one-day blood drives a year, including one at her parish, which was June 3.

“I like being busy,” she said. “I don’t mind being in charge. As long as I’m in agreement with the project that’s going on, I’m happy to implement it.”

That kind of leadership is at the heart of what the award tries to honor, and Androli “far exceeded” the criteria, Sherrett said. “While I was reading over her nomination, I was in awe at how much this one person is involved with in her community,” she said. “The list just kept going on and on.”

In addition to helping with existing projects, Androli comes up with her own, including fundraisers for local, national and international organizations. She also has held various leadership roles with the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women, including mission chairwoman in the southwest deanery.

Every December, Androli contributes to Santa Anonymous in Le Sueur County. She and others at her parish make quilts and baby blankets that accompany Christmas presents other individuals and groups collect and donate. She spends a day handing out the quilts and blankets to families in need. The county sets limits for what each family can receive, and that can be a problem for her.

“I’m pretty good at giving more than what the county says they can have,” Androli said with a chuckle.

Last December, someone came in for a quilt. The county said each family was to receive only one. But, there were five children in the family, and Androli learned there was not enough heat in the house to keep everyone warm at night. She stuffed five quilts into a bag and discreetly handed it over.

She is quick to point out that her highest priority in life is her own family. That means spending time with her husband, Francis, and their seven adult children, 22 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. She knows how to plan her schedule to fit in both family time and volunteer time. For example, she left the June 3 blood drive at her parish at 6 p.m. to run off to her great-grandson’s baseball game at 6:30.

I can’t imagine how they could play without me being there,” she said.

Likewise, she can’t imagine life without serving as a volunteer. “I’m happy with all of what I do,” she said.

“I have quite a few people who say I have to quit doing some of that. But, I don’t think I have to. So, I don’t think I will for a while.”

 


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