RENEW International, a Catholic not-for-profit organization based in Plainfield, N.J., will hold its eighteenth annual fundraising gala on June 8, 2017 at 6 p.m. at the Pleasantdale Chateau, West Orange, N.J. Sr. Terry Rickard, O.P., RENEW International’s president and executive director, will present awards to four notable Catholics whose lives reflect the values embodied in RENEW’s mission of empowering communities and individual women and men to live out their faith in daily life.
Honorees at this year’s Gala include former U.S. Representative Tony Coehlo, Sue and Dave Janazzo, and Msgr. Ed Ciuba.
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2018 Gala Honorees
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Tony Coelho
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Sue and Dave Janazzo
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Msgr. Ed Ciuba
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Spirit of RENEW Award
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President's Award
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Msgr. Thomas A. Kleissler Award
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Spirit of RENEW Award:
Tony Coelho had a long and successful political career as a member of the House of Representatives from California. The most significant piece of legislation Coelho sponsored was the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which he introduced on May 9, 1989. The bill was signed into law on July 26 of that same year. “When I left Congress I did not leave ministry,” Coehlo said. “I continue to counsel young people with disabilities facing suicide, serve on many boards, and most recently created The Center for Persons with Disabilities at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles.”
President’s Award:
Sue and Dave Janazzo of New Providence are seriously engaged members of Our lady of Peace Parish. Both Sue and Dave are lectors and Eucharistic ministers to the homebound. Sue is an altar server, cooks for a local rectory, and at times has cooked for the Dominican Nuns at the Cloister in Summit, N.J. Dave is the past grand knight of Knights of Columbus Council 783 and is active with Our Lady of Peace Academy.
Msgr. Thomas A Kleissler Award:
Msgr. Ed Ciuba is a senior priest of the Archdiocese of Newark and resident at Presentation Parish in Upper Saddle River, N.J. Father Ciuba’s area of professional study is Sacred Scripture which he shared for 22 years as professor and rector of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception. For the past 25 years, Msgr. Ciuba has dedicated his life to understanding the connections between science and religion and helping others to understand the relationship. Father Ciuba is the author of Creation at the Crossroads, RENEW’s resource for small groups—a response to Pope Francis’ exhortation Laudato Sí.