Award recipients: Brother Bob Walsh, FSC, accepted the award on behalf of Brother Leo Kramper, FSC; Peg Hodapp, and Andrew Blake
The Lasallian Volunteers (LV) honored three supporters from the Midwest District at the ninth annual FSC Awards, which was held June 9 at DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The honorees were chosen for the notable contributions they have made to the program.
The awards are named in the spirit of three Brothers who embodied the LV values of faith, service and community during their lifetimes. This year’s recipients are: Brother Leo Kramper, FSC, the Farrell Community Award; Andrew Blake, LV 03-05, the Bassen Service Award; and Peg Hodapp, the Johnston Faith Award.
The Johnston Faith Award, named in honor of Brother John Johnston, FSC (1933-2007), recognizes a supporter of Lasallian Volunteers through their time, talent or treasure. Hodapp was honored with this award as someone who has been a strong advocate of the LV program in multiple capacities for many years. She has shown her support by encouraging Lasallian Youth students at DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis and throughout the Midwest District to consider the program, encouraging former students who serve as LVs, and supporting LVs under her care as site director. That includes supporting her daughter who served as an LV for two years. Her unwavering support of the program is felt well beyond the walls of DeLaSalle.
“I’m humbled and blessed and so grateful to God for helping me to find my vocation in life. How lucky am I to love what I do every day,” said Hodapp. “Saint John Baptist de La Salle started an amazing movement over 300 years ago, and I can’t imagine a life outside this family. The Lasallian Volunteers have been invaluable to our community at DeLaSalle, and I will continue to encourage young women and men to consider that calling for themselves.”
The Farrell Community Award, named in honor of Brother Michael Farrell, FSC (1940-2009), recognizes supporters who have lived in community with Lasallian Volunteers. Brother Leo was honored with this award to celebrate the strong and heartfelt support he has had on LVs he has lived with in the Casa Benedicta community for the past nine years in Racine, Wisconsin. Brother Leo has enjoyed sharing his life with the LVs and supporting them in their struggles and victories. He has been a consistently positive presence in each of the past nine years. He has been a steady and life-giving support in the spiritual, social and ministerial aspects of community life. Brother Leo was unable to attend the ceremony, so Brother Bob Walsh, FSC, community director for Casa Benedicta, accepted the award on his behalf.
The Bassen Service Award, named in honor of Brother Christopher Bassen, FSC (1942-2006), recognizes LV alumni who have continued a life of service. Blake received this award to highlight his vocation to educate the young, especially the poor, in the spirit of De La Salle. As the longtime director of Campus Ministry, and now also a dean of students at Totino-Grace High School in Fridley, Minnesota, “Mr. Blake” has impacted countless students through his witness to service, his commitment to Christian education, and his joyful presence that communicates the Gospel.
“Living as a part of this greater Lasallian charism and community has blessed me with the opportunity to see the Gospel message come alive each and every day,” said Blake. “That blessing has been imperfect and includes moments of feeling joy, suffering, waiting, hope and love. All of it has helped me stretch my own heart so that I might better feel God’s presence and strive to be a reflection of God’s presence for others. Receiving the Brother Bassen Service Award is a reminder that the feeling I experience most often is gratitude. Gratitude for my mentors, for my colleagues, for my students, for my years as an LV, for my life as a Lasallian, and for my Lasallian partner in all of this – my wife.”
Recipients are selected on a rotating basis between the Districts in the Lasallian Region of North America (RELAN). The 2019 recipients will be selected from the District of San Francisco New Orleans.
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