Catholic Charities ‘Family’ Members Receive Caritas Award
This year’s Caritas Award Dinner honored the father and daughter team of Joseph J. Fennessy and Carol Sciotto for their support of Catholic Charities of Long Island’s service to our neighbors in need.
The honorees “remind us what one family can do when their faith, service and love come together,” said Michael E. Smith, CEO of Catholic Charities of Long Island, in his introduction. A record amount was raised at the May 13 dinner at the Heritage Club at Bethpage, CCLI’s largest fundraiser of the year.
The 228 guests heard a litany of praise for the two honorees, who were joined by many family members. The rising skirls of the St. Anthony High School Celtic Friars Bagpipe Band got everyone’s attention as they opened the evening’s program.
Fennessy is a retired partner and former chief operating officer for Deloitte & LLP’s Northeast Region, who had a 41-year career with the firm. He serves as Chair of Mount Sinai South Nassau’s Board of Directors and as a member of the Board of Trustees at Molloy University. He is also Finance Committee Chair at his parish, St. James in Seaford. He was elected into the Hall of Honor at St. Bernard’s in Levittown for his distinguished service to the parish CYO program, including many years of coaching girls’ basketball.
Sciotto is in her fifth year as executive director of CYO Long Island, which engages more than 19,000 youth from 72 Catholic parishes in athletics and other activities. The CYO Outreach Club, which she established, has nearly 300 members participating in community service activities connected with their reception of the sacrament of confirmation or National Honor Society membership. She and her family are also parishioners of St. James in Seaford.
A Strong Partnership
When Sciotto took up her post, she said Bishop John O. Barres challenged her “to put the ‘C’ back in CYO.” One of CYO’s strongest partnerships is with CCLI. CYO members have donated diapers and wipes to the WIC program, provided food for Mental Health Services, created holiday cards and given Mother’s Days flowers to the Meals-on-Wheels program, contributed speaker systems to the three senior centers, hosted game nights, craft days, Christmas parties and Valentine’s Day celebrations for residents of homes for developmentally disabled adults, and led many other initiatives.
“One of my greatest passions is ministries helping ministries,” Sciotto explained. “This partnership has become truly a win-win. It has allowed us to teach our members the importance of helping others and giving back.”
Speaking about a recent tour of Catholic Charities ministries with his daughter, Fennessy said, “Catholic Charities is out there preaching our Gospel for us.” A video narrated by Danielle Campbell, CCLI’s director of development and communications, featured highlights of the honorees’ lives.
Father and daughter were tickled to share Caritas Award honors, with Sciotto saying she was “deeply honored to receive this award alongside my father, a man who lives his life every day, demonstrating what it truly means to be a Christian.”
In remarks before delivering the Invocation, Bishop Barres said, “The work of Catholic Charities is our Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy in so many contexts. It’s really an expression of Catholic evangelization.” The bishop expressed his gratitude to all guests “for supporting the mission of Catholic Charities in Nassau County and Suffolk County.”
CCLI Board of Trustees Chair William Ayers thanked guests for making Catholic Charities’ charitable service possible. He considers his position “a privilege because it gives me a front-row seat to the dedication and deep caring I witness every day through the work of this organization.”
“Our charity springs straight from the Gospel call of Jesus,” Ayers said.
