The annual Andy Klein Grant recipient was presented on November 13.

The Andy Klein Memorial Peace and Justice Grant is awarded to a member of the John Carroll faculty and staff “who exemplify the qualities of peace, tolerance, social justice, and service to others.” It was created in memory of Andy Klein ’71 in order to continue his legacy.

Director of Mission and Ministry Ken Goedeke was awarded the grant for the 2022-2023 school year. This achievement follows his recent institution of the JC Peer Minister program.

The grant will allow Mr. Goedeke to go on a Guatemala Immersion trip this summer, conducted by the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers as a part of their Mission Formation initiative.

The program is a professional development opportunity focused on relationship building with Guatemalan communities, promoting global solidarity in the classroom, and connecting service to Catholic tradition, according to the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers website.

Mr. Goedeke said the trip will allow him to “re-institute and expand the school’s Service-Immersion program,” and further the JC mission of “being socially responsible, spiritually centered, and morally grounded in our Catholic beliefs.”

“Mission trips are about creating an opening for seeing and listening and hearing in ways that we are not easily able to do at home,” Mr. Goedeke said. “In seeing anew, the hopes and struggles of our brothers and sisters in the developing world, we begin to understand our role as their friends and advocates.”

He hopes that his trip will help “answer a call to solidarity” by “offering our neighbor deep solidarity, to act on their behalf with a certain passion for justice issues.”