Mary Adamski Star-Bulletin Lots of people serve on church building and maintenance committees, and then there's Joseph Woo, who built a stone wall and patio at his newly opened parish, St. Jude's at Kapolei. Every church has ushers, but few can match Lou Dubuque, who, armed with a golf umbrella on rainy days, escorts folks in from the parking lot at St. William's in Hanalei, Kauai. Teaching is what Elizabeth Lum has done for a living for 26 years. Rather than lead to burnout, it's the skill she chooses to share in off-duty service at Blessed Sacrament Church at Punchbowl. It's the fourth year that the Catholic Charities social service agency is sponsoring the awards for people nominated by their Catholic parish communities around the state.
Volunteers are the backbone of many of the services and programs in parishes.
Catholic Charities operates an array of social service programs for the community, some of which are contracted by the state. That has always been part of the social mission of the church, to serve anyone who is in need. The credentials of many of the treasured volunteers resemble the ripple effect of a rock thrown into a still pond. They've started with one small service, and their involvement has spread. Elizabeth Lum's husband, one of the honorees, is an example.