Bishop Barnes to honor five at annual fundraising dinner

 The Dinner will take place on April 18 at the JW Marriot Desert Springs Resort in Palm Springs. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Diocesan Seminarian Program.
 This evening of fun, fellowship and fundraising serves as a moment for Bishop Barnes offer remarks on the year to come and themes and priorities of the Diocese. He will be joined by Coadjutor Bishop Alberto Rojas and Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Rutilio del Riego.
 This year Bishop Barnes will honor five with the Amar Es Entregarse Award, named for his Episcopal Motto which means “love is the total giving of one’s self.”
 Father David Andel, the longtime Judicial Vicar of the Diocese and a popular presence in parish ministry at St. Francis Xavier Cabrini, Yucaipa; St. Catherine of Alexandria, Riverside, St. Catherine of Siena, Rialto and St. Theresa, Palm Springs; David Okonkwo, the Director of the Diocesan Ministry to Catholics of African Descent and key connection to African and African-American communities in the Diocese.
 Deacon John Degano and Cheryl Degano, assigned to St. Catherine of Alexandria, Riverside and a longtime voice of the local Church in Riverside’s civic affairs; Father Earl Henley, M.S.C., Director of the Diocesan Office of Native American Ministry, a minister to the many Native American communities in the Diocese; Deacon Luis Sanchez and Rosa Sanchez, assigned to Our Lady of Lourdes, Montclair and serving as the Associate Director of the Diocesan Office of Ecclesial Services; Deacon Sanchez has also served an important role as the coordinator of Operation Bienvenida, the Diocese’s transitional ministry to Central American refugees seeking asylum in the United States.
 Individual tickets for the dinner are $250 or $2,500 per table. For information, sponsorship opportunities or hotel information/reservations call (909) 475-5117.