HOMEPAGE for this issue: April 20, 2011 Download PDF Version

Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissman Klein to keynote 2011 ENDOW gala

St. Julia Greeley Award to go to Ohio mother of six Jennifer Ricard

By Julie Filby

The annual Evening of Enchantment gala, which celebrates and supports the Catholic women’s group ENDOW (Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women), is set for the evening of May 7.

The keynote speaker for this year’s gala will be author, humanitarian and Holocaust survivor, Gerda Weissman Klein, speaking on “The Goodness of Women.”

“On the eve of her 85th birthday, ENDOW is blessed to have Gerda Weissman Klein as the keynote speaker for our gala,” said executive director Terry Polakovic. “Gerda is unique in that she is a Holocaust survivor who has spent her entire life reaching out, helping others and proclaiming the universality of human dignity.”

At the end of World War II, Klein was liberated by American Army Lt. Kurt Klein. At 20 years old, she weighed only 68 pounds and she hadn’t showered in three years. Nonetheless he fell in love with her immediately and the two married.

In referring to the day of her liberation—after surviving six years of imprisonment, slave labor, concentration camps and a 350-mile death march—Klein fondly remembers, “Kurt held the door open for me and let me precede him, and in that gesture restored me to humanity.”

“Since that time Gerda’s entire life has embodied the mission of ENDOW, which is to promote what Pope John Paul II called the ‘true genius of women,’” Polakovic said. “In living a life of true service to others she has demonstrated this feminine genius in countless ways.”

One such way included leading a series of healing assemblies with students at Littleton’s Columbine High School following the tragic shootings in 1999. Klein is involved in numerous charitable organizations and last February was recognized with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest award for a civilian.

“She does what she can to make the world a more humane place for the rest of us,” Polakovic said. “More than most, Gerda understands the true meaning of ‘love begets love.’”

At the gala, the annual Julia Greeley Award will be presented to Jennifer Ricard, an ENDOW facilitator from Hudson, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. Ricard, a parishioner of St. Mary in Hudson, was responsible for bringing ENDOW to the Diocese of Cleveland in the fall of 2009. Since that time nearly 150 women, ranging from middle-school age to their 70s, have participated in the program’s educational study groups.

“I hope more women in Cleveland will find out about ENDOW and get involved,” Ricard said. “It’s been life-changing for me, especially being able to watch Christ change the hearts and minds of ladies in my groups—their stories inspire me to do more in the Church.”

In addition to facilitating ENDOW, this wife and mother of six, ranging from age 5 to 15, is active as a theology of the body teacher, natural family planning instructor, eucharistic minister and helps with the parish youth program.

The Julia Greeley Award is named after a former slave and Catholic convert who became renowned in Denver for her piety and care for the poor.
The Evening of Enchantment, themed “At the service of life and love,” will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at 1750 Welton St. in downtown Denver. The evening begins with 5:15 p.m. Mass at Holy Ghost Church celebrated by founding ENDOW board member and spiritual advisor, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez; followed by cocktails, silent and live auctions, dinner, keynote talk and the award presentation.

Tickets are $200 each and table sponsorships are available. For more information or to register, visit www.EndowOnline.org/events/gala, call 303-715-3224, or e-mail Margaret.McCann@archden.org. The registration deadline is April 29.