GREENVILLE—The South Carolina Council of Catholic Women recently donated $8,415 to Camp Rise Above. President Marlene Grover and Father Fabio Refosco, SCCCW spiritual adviser, presented the camp’s founder, Barbara Denton, with the check. The money was collected from the SCCCW affiliates throughout the state during the 2016 convention in Myrtle Beach. Camp Rise Above is a non-profit organization that provides camp experiences to children with serious illnesses and disabilities.
Grover also presented the 2016 $1,500 Rev. William F. Pentis Memorial Scholarship Award to Elena Smith, a parishioner of the Church of the Nativity in Charleston.
Smith is an active volunteer and altar server at her church. She also volunteers at Nativity school and vacation Bible school. She is an outstanding student, member of the National Honors Society, Key Club, Spanish club, and varsity soccer, and volunteers weekly at the Medical University of South Carolina. She plans to become a doctor so she can improve the quality of life for her patients.
“Giving of ourselves for the benefit of another is the ultimate act of love,” she said in her application. “In our service to others, it is important to be aware of our Catholic social teachings, the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and our faith in general. Service should be a way of life, not something that we do every once and a while.”
