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New Champions for Life to be honored Oct. 18

Two people and one pro-life group who have dedicated time and energy to defend human life at all stages will be recognized at the 10th-annual St. John Paul II Champions for Life Awards Luncheon Oct. 18.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda will honor the recipients at the 11:30 a.m. luncheon at St. Peter in Mendota. Catholic author Kathy Schneeman, former respect life coordinator for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, will present the keynote address. Award recipients include Susan Hildebrand, Nancy Blom and the Pro-Life Youth Ambassadors group at St. Paul in Ham Lake. Chosen by the archdiocese’s Office of Marriage, Family and Life, the awards recognize individual Catholics and organizations in the archdiocese who work to uphold the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.

Hildebrand, a parishioner of St. Stephen in Anoka, won the volunteer category with her work at Birthright, a pro-life pregnancy assistance organization, and local senior homes. Hildebrand leads a Communion and prayer service at a nursing home in Anoka.

“I have witnessed Sue’s compassion for life — especially the elderly,” said an anonymous nominator for Hildebrand.

Blom, a parishioner of St. Alphonsus in Brooklyn Center, won the professional category for her work with Rachel’s Vineyard. She started the local chapter of the retreat ministry and still organizes it today. The ministry helps post-abortive women and men heal from abortion and find God’s forgiveness.

“It has been Nancy’s commitment to this ministry, her organizational and artistic skills, her manner of leadership, her gift of hospitality … and her many other gifts that have made the Twin Cities [Rachel’s Vineyard] retreat work so very well and dependably,” said an anonymous nominator for Blom.

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The Pro-Life Youth Ambassadors won the category for youth or young adults. The group organizes pro-life activities and projects at the parish, such as a fundraiser for Abba Pregnancy Resource Center in Elk River. Some group members have gotten involved in regional and national activities such as the March for Life in Washington, D.C. Members of the group include Gabrielle Brounstein, Marie Brounstein, Elizabeth Trksak, Meghan Koezly, Lauren Koezly, Clara Koop, Daniel Larson, David Meuer, Julia Funni, Hannah Chryst, Kelsey Blum, Annabelle Doran, Caroline Blum, Lillian Kraft, Olivia Klimisch and Sofia DeBoer.

“They have just been very instrumental and inspiring for each of us to be promoters of life,” said Judy Van Den Broeke, the coordinator of pastoral care and outreach at St. Paul and the organizers of the Pro-Life Youth Ambassadors.

Tickets for the awards luncheon are $35 per person. RSVP by Oct. 12.

 


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