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St Vincent de Paul Society’s Annual Dinner Honors Janet and Clint Reilly, Raises a Record of Over $200,000 and debuts Comcast PSAs

On Thursday, November 8th, the St Vincent de Paul Society honored community leaders Janet and Clint Reilly with the Frank Brennan Award for Service To The Poor.  More than five hundred guests gathered at the Society’s annual Brennan Award Dinner for an evening that featured an invocation by Archbishop Niederauer and a congratulatory letter from the Vatican read by Father John Talesfore.  A highlight of the evening was the debut of a video and several public service announcements produced for the Society by Comcast Spotlight, which will be aired on Comcast stations throughout the Bay Area. 

The Frank Brennan Award is given annually to recipients who have distinguished themselves in their commitment to serving the poor and who epitomize the ideal of dedication to all works of charity and justice.  “Janet and Clint Reilly are role models of public service, and a true blessing to this city,” said Executive Director Chris Cody.  “Their strong leadership in many non-profit organizations has made the Bay Area a more humane place for thousands.” 

In accepting the Brennan Award, Janet and Clint Reilly proved inspiring and thought-provoking, humbly placing themselves in the contexts of the Catholic Church's long history of service to the poor, a beloved lineage of past Brennan Award recipients, and diminishing government help for the needy.  "In 1932,” said Clint, “unemployment in America was 25% and many American cities saw bread lines which ran around the block.  The Roosevelt Administration orchestrated a New Deal which guaranteed each citizen a minimum standard of living.  Eighty years later, Americans have achieved unprecedented economic wellbeing.  Yet there are still millions of Americans living in poverty, without adequate health care, with no job or a low-wage job and an uncertain educational future.  The government has dismantled large pieces of the social safety net.  Welfare has been curtailed, psychological services largely eliminated, many social service programs trimmed.  That is what makes the place of Catholic Charities and St. Vincent de Paul so important in our city.  Catholic Charities and the St. Vincent de Paul Society are witnesses to Catholicism's enduring commitment to serve the poor, the sick, seniors and children.  The Catholic Church's commitment to the poor did not begin with the New Deal.  It began with Jesus and extends in a two-thousand-year continuum from St Francis of Assisi to St Vincent de Paul to Mother Teresa and Frank Brennan."  Janet graciously turned the spotlight to the Society:  “This devotion to service is best embodied by the real hero of the night – the St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Francisco who for nearly 150 years has cared for the homeless, the sick, the poor, the disenfranchised, and all of our brothers and sisters who have been rendered invisible or undesirable.  It’s the Society that we celebrate and honor tonight.”

Janet and Clint Reilly are both successful business minds who have consistently used their talents to benefit the community.  Clint was one of the nation’s leading political consultants for 20 years, then turned his strategic vision and energy to a career in real estate, founding the successful San Francisco real estate investment firm Clinton Reilly Holdings.  He was the first lay President of the Board of Catholic Charities CYO, serving from 2002 to 2006, and helped to found the organization’s pace-setting annual fundraiser, the Loaves and Fishes Dinner.  Janet, a former broadcast journalist, has served on numerous boards and advisory committees including the San Francisco Film Society, the Catholic Charities development committee, Shanti National Training Institute and Mount St. Joseph – St. Elizabeth advisory boards, and for three terms, the Asian Art Museum.  In a previous role as Manager of Public Relations at Mervyn’s Department Stores, Janet create the Community Closet – a mobile store that traveled throughout the country giving away brand new work-appropriate wardrobes to women transitioning back in the workplace.  Janet now serves on the Board of the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District.  
This year’s Brennan Award Dinner raised a record total of over $200,000, which will provide vital direct support for the poor, homeless, and battered women and their children. 

For additional information contact Jen Shelnutt, Chief Development Officer, St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Francisco, at (415) 977-1270 ext. 3004.