The Catholic Committee of Appalachia presented its 2002 Bishop Walter F. Sullivan Award to Glenmary Father Les Schmidt at their annual meeting in September in Abingdon, Va.

The award's purpose, says CCA director Franciscan Sister Robbie Pentecost, is "to recognize the wonderful work being done by an individual in the Appalachian region."

To be nominated a person must have worked at least 10 years in the region in the spirit of the two Appalachian pastoral letters: This Land is Home to Me and At Home in the Web of Life.

Father Les, born in the Appalachian foothills of southeastern Ohio, currently ministers as a regional worker based in Big Stone Gap, Va. He has served in the Appalachia region for over 40 years and helped found the Catholic Committee of the South.

He also played an instrumental role in the development and promulgation of the two Appalachian pastorals cited above as well as of Voices and Choices, the 2000 pastoral on the poultry industry signed by 41 southern bishops.

Glenmary president Father Jerry Dorn, in his letter of nomination, describes Father Les as "a pastoral presence for those who minister in the mountains—as comforter, advisor, supporter and challenger."

Father Les, busy working on his current project on rural prisons, was unable to receive the award in person. On his behalf Glenmary vice-president Brother Jack Henn accepted the award—a hand-carved pair of wooden sandals symbolizing Father Les's simplicity.

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2002 issue of Glenmary Challenge