Honored for What He Loves to Do

It’s “humbling,” Ed Morgan told the crowd, “to be recognized for just doing something that I love to do.”

Those were Ed’s simple, yet telling words as he received the Saint Mother Marianne Cope Award on Aug. 18 during the 160th Anniversary Celebration of the Secular Franciscan Order’s St. Joseph Fraternity.

I had the privilege of making the presentation before 100 people during a luncheon banquet at the newly opened Irish Cultural Center.

The plaque read: “In recognition of coordinating the soup kitchen operation and leading/inspiring the volunteer force, resulting in serving nutritious lunchtime meals to the … working poor, jobless and homeless; treating hungry children and adults as blessings; serving over 53,000 meals a year.”

Zoo Comes to the Children

Checking out the hognose snake

There were giggles, murmurs of awe, even strange quacking on the lawn outside Mother Marianne’s West Side Kitchen.

The occasion was an appearance by the Utica Zoomobile on a sunny Friday in August.
West Side Boutique’s Nancy Robert coordinated the visit for neighborhood children, many of whom have been eating at the soup kitchen during summer vacation.