Sister Marilyn Lacey Awarded Annual Janet Gray Hayes Award
\nSan Jose City College presented Sister Marilyn Lacey with the annual Janet Gray Hayes Award on March 22 for her achievements in helping displaced people of the world.<\/p>\n
Since 1987, SJCC has given the award to a woman who has been an inspiration and role model, said Virginia Scales, Dean of language arts.
\nThe award gets its namesake from Janet Gray Hayes, first female mayor of San Jose.<\/p>\n
\u201cSJCC is especially proud that Mayor Hayes has chosen SJCC to give out the award,\u201d said Scales.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s recipient, Sr. Marilyn Lacey, began her career as a Math teacher. In 1979, she responded to a bulletin board posting looking for volunteers to help refugees. That experience led her to work at Catholic Charities of San Jose for 21 years as director of refugee services. <\/p>\n
Sr. Lacey has written a memoir entitled \u201cThis Flowing Toward Me: A Story of God Arriving in Strangers\u201d, and has been recognized as an \u201cUnsung Hero of Compassion\u201d by the Dali Lama.<\/p>\n
Sr. Lacey said that her current project, Mercy Beyond Borders, is aimed especially to help the women and girls in refugee camps of Sudan. <\/p>\n
\u201cWelcoming strangers is the path to joy,\u201d said Sr. Lacey. \u201cI felt drawn to work with the women and children. They get left behind. I thought, \u2018What can I do for the world\u2019s worst off women? Go to Sudan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we asked the refugee women \u2018What do you need?\u2019 they all said \u2018Educate our girls\u2019,\u201d said Sr. Lacey. \u201cWe are getting scholarships for girls who have never had permission to go to school. We are confident things will change over time.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sister Marilyn Lacey Awarded Annual Janet Gray Hayes Award San Jose City College presented Sister Marilyn Lacey with the annual Janet Gray Hayes Award on March 22 for her achievements in helping displaced people of the world. Since 1987, SJCC has given the award to a woman who has been an inspiration and role model,…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"staff_name":[585],"class_list":["post-1456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus-life","staff_name-leeta-rose-ballester"],"yoast_head":"\n