b'AL I G H T On2023 CATHOLIC FOUNDATION AWARD DINNERHumble Beginnings Motivate Jack Pratt To Serve OthersGuests of the 40th annual Catholic Foundation Award Dinner were treated to an evening of hope and joy as Jack Pratt received the Foundations highest honor for his life of outstanding service in the Catholic community, and John Paul II High Schools Charlotte Blank was recognized as the 2023 Hal Tehan Scholar.L to R: Matt Kramer, Jack Pratt, Dan Odom and Joe Ackels, Sr. L to R: Melissa, Mia, Charlotte and Devin BlankHIGHLIGHTS FROM JACKS REMARKS: CATHOLIC CHURCHES & SCHOOLSIve been blessed in my family life,My other passion has been focused on helping to establish new both in my childhood years, by havingchurches and schools such as John Paul II High School and San Juan Diego very loving and hard working ChristianCatholic Church and, for the past 8 years, Ive been workingon a new church parents, and now with my wonderfulfor the parishioners of Saint Augustin Catholic Church in Southeast Dallas. wife, children, grandchildren andBut while I am the one being honored tonight, I would like to recognize great grandchildren.all the thousands of unsung heroes in our diocese who work tirelessly behind Ive been blessed in my lifethe scenes for the good of our Catholic community. of faith. I was raised as a ChristianI have been privileged to have worked with many of these people, but and I didnt become a Catholic untilwe are all the recipients of their labors. They do this work, not for recognition, I married Aileen 42 years ago. Myand certainly not for money, but out of a true love of church and community decision to embrace the Catholicand a genuine desire to give back. faith has enriched my life more thanI was fortunate to have had the means, and the determination to I can say.provide a church for them, and to be one of the founders of what was to Jack and Aileen Pratt I believe that eacheventually become the parish of San Juan Diego. But, it was the parishioners child is born with so much Godof San Juan Diego who contributed their time and talents to help renovate given potential, regardless of thetheir church and who dug deep into their earnings to do these renovations and circumstances into which they are born, and that the best gift you can giveto make it their spiritual home.\ child, and the best way to break the cycle of poverty is through a good education. Hundreds of photos from the event are downloadable on our website, I have concentrated on helping underserved children to get awww.catholicfoundation.com, in the PhotoVideoAudio Library Catholic school education so that they can have a strong academic andsection under the About UsNews tab. You can also watch a video of moral foundation to their life. the entire evening in the same section of the website. 4'