Second Annual Rise & Dine Breakfast: The Catholic Charities Way
The spirit of community was alive and well on Thursday morning, as community members, supporters, and partners gathered in Wilmington, NC, hungry for hope and breakfast. Such a gathering only deserved an equally great setting, and Plaza on Princess at the Harrelson Center once again happily delivered for the second annual Rise & Dine Breakfast, raising awareness and support for the vital work of Catholic Charities in the Cape Fear region. The event welcomed more than 60 attendees and raised over $20,000 to support services throughout the region. As guests enjoyed a buffet breakfast of eggs, bacon, grits, sausage, and biscuits, the room buzzed with conversation as old friends reconnected and new relationships were formed. Fr. John McGee, Dean of the Cape Fear Region, opened the morning in prayer, inviting those gathered to reflect on the shared responsibility of caring for neighbors in need.
The program that followed offered a powerful look into the range of Catholic Charities’ work across southeastern North Carolina. A video presentation highlighted several programs and services supported by the Cape Fear team, including mobile food distributions, disaster recovery efforts, and the Mobile Laundry Program. 
Lisa Perkins, Chief Executive Officer of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Raleigh, expressing her pride in the Cape Fear office, reiterated the work highlighted by the video, but stressed that it offered “only a glimpse of what this team does every day.”
The morning also featured heartfelt remarks from Cape Fear Regional Director Emilie Hart and one of our neighbors, George, who each shared about the transformative power of compassion and accompaniment. George’s thoughts on the idea of hope moved those in attendance and was a great reminder that even in life’s most difficult moments, hope can provide the strength to keep moving forward. George bore testimony to the ideas that Hart had earlier christened the “Catholic Charities Way”, the importance of meeting every person who seeks assistance with dignity and respect.
“When someone walks through our doors, we don’t ask whether they look like us, think like us, or worship like us,” Hart said. “We simply respect their dignity. We recognize that behind every crisis is a human being carrying a burden that may be more than they can bear alone.” She went on to emphasize that Catholic Charities strives to stand in awe of what people have to carry rather than in judgment of how they carry it. Together, the speakers underscored a central theme of the event: that Catholic Charities measures success not simply by what services are provided, but by how those services are delivered, always with compassion, dignity, and hope.