Staff writer
jstevens@observer-reporter.com
WAYNESBURG - Sister Audrey Quinn, a Benedictine nun from Waynesburg, is one of millions of Americans who serves as a caregiver to someone in need.
In recognition for her dedication and work as a foster mom, mentor, confidant, coordinator, sister, teacher and friend to many in need, she has been named as one of 10 finalists in CVS/pharmacy's "For All the Ways You Care" contest.
Quinn, who is the director of the Salvation Army, Greene County Service Center, was selected from more than 4,200 story submissions following a nationwide search for inspirational stories of caring. She was nominated by Sister Sue Fazzini, who shares the home with Quinn in Morgan Township.
As a finalist, Quinn will be honored Monday at a celebratory luncheon in New York. She will receive $10,000 in recognition of her acts of caring and will be treated to an all-expense paid trip to New York City. If selected as the grand prize winner, she will receive $25,000. ABC's "Good Morning America" will pay tribute to her and the other "For All the Ways You Care" finalists and will reveal the grand prize winner Monday.
"She is a tremendous writer," Quinn said Wednesday, referring to Fazzini. "She made me sound like Mother Theresa."
This isn't the first time Fazzini has written something for a contest. Last year, Fazzini discovered an advertisement in her e-mail from Nabisco, which was seeking to celebrate 100 extraordinary women. All she had to do was write a 100-word essay about why she and Quinn should be considered.
"The first time I sent it, the entry didn't go, so I thought maybe I had written more than 100 words," Fazzini said. After some editing, she sent it a second time, and the response was "invalid entry," so she took more words out and tried a third time.
"I thought if this goes through, fine; if not, well, nothing is lost and frankly, I never thought another thing about it," she said.
A few months later, a letter arrived stating the two sisters were, in fact, winners. "We couldn't believe it," Fazzini said. "This just dropped out of Heaven on us."
What they won was an all-expenses-paid trip to Hollywood, Calif., to meet the other 98 "extraordinary women."
But that was then. When Quinn leaves for New York Saturday, she will be accompanied by none other than Fazzini. "This is just unbelievable," Quinn said.
Nonetheless, a panel consisting of Lee Woodruff, author and wife of ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff; Dr. Roseanna Means, founder of Women of Means, a program of volunteer doctors who provide free medical care to homeless women and children; Tina Sharkey, BabyCenter.com chairman and global president; Rosemary Ellis, Good Housekeeping editor-in-chief; and Dr. Lisa Masterson, who specializes in obstetrics and gynecology and serves as co-host of the daytime talk show, "The Doctor," did believe Quinn was deserving to be considered as a finalist.
She has fostered more than 160 children and has helped many become the first in their families to complete high school. In addition, each year for the past 10 years she has distributed 5,000 new pairs of shoes to children in need and she also fills backpacks with goodies for local teens' Christmas gifts and provides Thanksgiving baskets to local families.
Moreover, Quinn finds time every year to sponsor a coat drive. Last year she collected more than 500 coats for families in need. And she will be the first to say she could not do any of this without the help of Fazzini.
"Because of the nature of what we do, we understand the challenges and rewards of caregivers today," said Helena Foulkes, executive vice president of CVS Caremark. "CVS pharmacy is delighted to honor extraordinary caregivers like Sister Audrey and those who give so much of themselves to others."