The University to Present Annual Pedro Arrupe, S.J., Award on Tuesday

The University of Scranton will present its annual Pedro Arrupe, S.J., Award for Distinguished Contributions to Ignatian Mission and Ministry to Friends of the Poor. The presentation will take place in the Rose Room of Brennan Hall on Tuesday, April 5, beginning at 11:30 a.m.

Friends of the Poor was founded by the late Sister Adrian Barrett, IHM, in 1986 and is sponsored by the Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Celebrating its 30th anniversary year, Friends of the Poor is a non-profit charitable organization, run entirely by volunteers, aimed at easing the burden of those living in poverty.

The organization provides assistance to those in need with food, clothing, household items and furniture, in addition to hosting holiday dinners at Thanksgiving, Christmas and St. Patrick’s Day and a Martin Luther King Jr. Day luncheon. The organization also runs Easter basket and Christmas gift drives, as well as after school programs, field trips and other events that serve area children in need.

Programs and services supported by Friends of the Poor include several food pantries; Big Friends, Little Friends afterschool programming; Clothes Line for Men, which provides men with clothing for work, interviews and special occasions; and Dollar Energy Water Assistance, for which they act as a referral site for the federal Dollar Energy Program, among others.

The Arrupe Award is named in honor of the late Very Rev. Pedro Arrupe, S.J., the superior general of the Society of Jesus from 1965 to 1983. The University instituted the award in 1995 to further its namesake’s vision by recognizing men and women for outstanding contributions in a wide variety of Ignatian-inspired ministries.