Record-breaking attendance at Twin Cities Christ Brings Hope

Nearly 1,000 people attended the 7th Annual Christ Brings Hope Banquet to benefit Relevant Radio® 1330 AM in Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The dinner and reception was held on Friday, April 20, 2018 at the Marriott in Minneapolis and was the largest Relevant Radio Christ Brings Hope Award dinner to date.

2018 Christ Brings Hope Honoree Gordon DeMarais and family
2018 Christ Brings Hope Honoree Gordon DeMarais and family

The 2018 honoree was Gordon DeMarais, Founder and President of Saint Paul’s Outreach, a ministry that seeks to build Catholic communities on college campuses, to accompany students with quality formation and bring them home to the Catholic faith. Saint Paul’s Outreach has 98 missionaries reaching 20,000 college students in eight states. Read more about the work of St. Paul’s Outreach.

Father Rocky, Mary Jo Feltl, and Archbishop Bernard Hebda
Father Rocky, Mary Jo Feltl, and Archbishop Bernard Hebda

The event was attended by Rev. Bernard Hebda – Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Father Rocky – Relevant Radio Executive Director, Thomas Vorpahl – Chairman of the Board, and Relevant Radio show hosts Patrick Madrid, Father Richard Simon, Glen Lewerenz, and Paul Sadek.

Father Rocky presented the Caritas Dei Award to Mary Jo Feltl, co-chair of the event and business leader in the Twin Cities, for her exceptional witness to God’s love as she generously gives of herself to supporting the mission of evangelization and personally touches the lives of so many people with her hospitality and generosity.

The evening included a $300,000 match by an anonymous donor for tuition assistance at Catholic schools. Thirty-seven local Catholic schools took part in the evening, and were generously supported by Relevant Radio listeners and supporters.

Thirty priests attended the dinner, and were invited on stage by Fr. Simon, host of Father Simon SaysTM, to join in the closing prayer and bless the crowd. It was a wonderful night of food, friends, and fellowship with Relevant Radio, Saint Paul’s Outreach, and the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis’ Catholic schools.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda
Archbishop Bernard Hebda
Lindsey is a wife, mother, and contributing author at Relevant Radio. She holds a degree in Journalism and Advertising from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Lindsey enjoys writing, baking, and liturgical living with her young family.