A recent College of Saint Benedict graduate has been honored with a prestigious award by the Catholic Volunteer Network for her record of service to the local community in the Denver area.
Maria Determan ’22 received the Bishop Joseph A. Francis Award at the organization’s 2025 National Conference on Faith-Based Service held in Denver earlier this month.
The award – named after the former auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark and the Episcopal Advisor for Catholic Volunteer Network from 1976 until his death in 1997 – is presented annually to former volunteers who “have demonstrated exemplary service to their local communities.”
Determan, who majored in theology and Spanish at CSB, is currently the volunteer coordinator for Project Worthmore, a nonprofit providing programs “that foster community, self-sufficiency and increase quality of life among Denver-area refugees.”
Prior to that, she served in a similar position at SAME (So All May Eat) Café, where she worked with the unhoused and migrant communities in Denver.
“I was very humbled to receive this award,” said Determan, an Omaha, Nebraska, native who was active with SJU Campus Ministry during her time at CSB and SJU and also sang in the Chamber Choir.
“Honestly, this is just the work I do and it’s work I truly love. I feel very privileged to receive an award for it. It was certainly unexpected. I’m incredibly grateful to be chosen.”
After graduating from CSB, Determan chose to do a year of service with the Colorado Vincentian Volunteers, which is what first brought her to the Denver area.
“I was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of so much privilege and education growing up, and all the way through college, so I wanted to find a way to give back,” Determan said. “I’m a huge community person. That’s a big part of what drew me to CSB and SJU. I loved the sense of community there, and after graduating, I wanted to find a new community to immerse myself in.
“That’s why I chose to do a year of service. I was looking for something like AmeriCorps, but with maybe a more individualized and spiritual aspect. When I found the Vincentian Volunteers, it seemed like the perfect fit.”
Project Worthmore offers a wide variety of programs including a food share, a community farm, citizenship partnerships and classes, and English language instruction.
“We have close to 600 volunteers who come through our doors,” she said. “My job is to find volunteers, place them where they want to be and where I feel like their skillsets can help meet our needs.
“Part of what I love about being here is getting to work with people from all over the world. Every day, I’m learning something new about different cultures, languages and ways of life. It’s a difficult time right now to be working with immigrant communities because of everything that’s been going on. There can be a lot of sadness. But in my role, I also see how many people are eager to help one another, and I get to be one of the facilitators of that.”