By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA
News editor

Between potluck and award presentation, it took awhile to move Pat and Becki Rawson from one room to another, so many people wanted to talk to them.

On Sunday the Rawsons received the 2010 Inspired Service and Action Award at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church during the annual meeting of Gorge Ecumenical Ministries, an affiliation of seven churches in the Mid-Columbia.

The Rawsons have served the needs of low-income children and families, through several programs, for more than 15 years, according to Marianne Durkan of Hood River, who nominated them.

The Rawsons were recognized for a life of service, but two projects in particular:

They created St. Mary’s Camp at their Barrett Road home 15 years ago, hosting low-income children, 80-120 a time, and hiring young people as counselors. Many campers have returned as leaders.

“They do a fantastic job and they don’t get their feathers ruffled,” Durkan said.

Three years ago Pat and Becki founded St. Francis House in Odell, an after-school and Saturday program for at-risk children that provides homework assistance, recreation and computer access.

The Rawsons’ award came in a gathering in the church sanctuary, where GEM also honored more than 25 volunteers at the FISH food bank, which Riverside Church pastor Vicki Stifter said is the mainstay program of GEM.

Among those praising the Rawsons was guest speaker Maija Yasui.

“The ability to serve has always been what brought this community together,” said Yasui, who coordinates the Faith Connections program, a federally funded grant program that links churches with community nonprofits and government agencies.

(Turn to page A3 for more comments from Yasui.)

Pat is an instructor at Columbia Gorge Community College and assists in guiding students to obtain their GED and further their education. He is also a Hospice social worker.

Becki is a registered nurse in the Providence Emergency Room and is working on her master’s nurse practitioner degree. They are parents of Danny, Sean, Katie and Claire; their nephew, Mark Ramirez, lives with them.

Becki has served on several humanitarian missions through Northwest Medical Teams and Providence Health System, and for the past eight years the Rawsons have also led Hood River youths on mission trips to Guaymas and Juarez, Mexico.

“Pat and Becki exemplify the characteristics of Christian love and justice. Their commitment to the youth of our community is outstanding as they serve as role models at St. Mary’s Church and in the community,” Durkan said.

Durkan noted that for more than 10 years the Rawsons have organized “The Giving Tree” program at Christmas at St. Mary’s Church for low-income, primarily Hispanic children. They have arranged for almost 100 families to receive clothing and toy items, with support of St. Mary’s Youth Group, Altar Society and Knights of Columbus.

But it is St. Mary’s camp that has been an extended mission by Rawson and friends.

Children go swimming, do woodworking, arts and crafts, archery and other activities, and top it off with a trip to Lost Lake.

“Many of these children have never experienced these things. This is all put together with volunteers from St. Mary’s Catholic Church, and the community,” Durkan said.

The Rawsons credited other members of the community for helping make their works possible.

“We accept this award, knowing well that we are members of a wide faith community — a community dedicated to compassion and service,” Pat Rawson said.

“Any projects we have undertaken would have been impossible without the continual support and cooperation of like-minded folks who have worked side-by-side with us throughout the years,” Becki said.

Patrick said they would take the award home and ask themselves what more they can do “to make this real.”

The combined efforts of people of different beliefs have inspired the Rawsons. Patrick pointed to his upbringing in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, where “as far away as Seattle is to us, there was virtually a war going on,” referring to “The Troubles” in British-ruled Northern Ireland.

“Look at how far we have come,” he said. “We broke bread together, and there was no competing with each other. We are all looking to be compassionate people. That says something about all of us.”

The Rawsons thanked Father Ron Maag of St. Mary’s, and his predecessors, “who have publically supported our efforts and trusted us when we came to them with what may have seemed at first very wacky ideas.

“We are also extremely grateful for our wider faith community of local churches and congregations in the Gorge, including the cooperative efforts of GEM and Faith Connections, that have inspired us and supported us through tie prayers, donations, volunteers and encouragement.

“As the gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ gets wider, we are all called to redouble our efforts to work together to be compassionate caring people,” the Rawsons said. “In our marriage, in our family, and in our community, we have been challenged to live out St. Luke’s verse: ‘To whom much has been given, much will be expected.’ We have all been given many gifts that allow us to embody the love of God for the entire human family.”