40th Anniversary Dinner

Hope House of  Catholic Charities  in the Diocese of Paterson held a dinner to celebrate

forty years of service in Morris County on March 23 at the Hanover Marriott. There were 200 dignitaries and guests who attended the celebration.

This year the dinner honored two very special Hope House supporters,Mr.  Mark Andreano and  Mr. Tom Vasquez . On behalf of the Board of Trustees , the staff and clients of Hope House Ms. Diane Silbernagel , Executive Director of Hope House and Mr. Joseph Duffy,President of Catholic Charities , Diocese of Paterson spoke about the selfless service these two men have provided  to Hope House  over the years. As Ms. Silbernagel said “ Mark Andreano is always there when we need help. He is only a phone call away.” He has also been one of the primary speakers the Hope House Hour of Hope presentations ( monthly open house presentations and tours of Hope House.) Also, Mr. Duffy paid particular attention to how Mr. Vasquez  , who started his career as a Police officer in Boonton and who now owns his own business, started as a volunteer at Hope House and eventually became a member of the Hope House Board of Trustees. Both men were honored with proclamations from local municipalities . State Senator AnthonyBucco and Assemblyman Tony Bucco presented both men with honorary proclamations from the New Jersey legislature.

Mark and Tom were also honored with a special Papal Blessing from Pope Benedict XVI..

Mr. Andreano was very humbled and gracious in his remarks that “in the end if one wishes to find happiness you will have it forever in serving others .” A touching moment that capped off the evening was when Mr. Vasquez invited the staff and volunteers of Hope House to come up in front by the podium and asked the dinner guests to thank them for their hard work as “You raise me up” by Josh Groban played over the ballroom sound system. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as the guests stood in with applause and  gratitude.

Early in the evening as guests gathered  they  were greeted by the pleasant and excellent  musical sounds of Ferastrome String Quartet of Randolph High School. (The students in the group are Larry Qin, violinist, Jessica Lu, violinist, Aoma Caldwell, cellist and Rachel Snyder, violist.)