Finger Lakes Catholic Charities honors 8 for community service

Each day, people throughout the Finger Lakes region are working hard to make positive, significant differences in the lives of those around them, according to Frank Capozzi Jr., executive director of Catholic Charities of the Finger Lakes. On June 16, his agency honored eight of those individuals with its annual Sharing the Light Award, which is given each year to individuals who dedicate their time and energy to making their communities better places.

“This award provides an opportunity for us to take time to recognize their hard work, caring and compassionate spirits,” Capozzi said.

This year’s honorees were Sarah Brown Ryan, Connie Glover, Kipp and Kirstin Goodman, Mike and Mary Anne Hanna, and Douglas H. Mason. The award was presented posthumously to Bill Lamb, who passed away in October 2025. The awards were presented during the annual Sharing the Light dinner, which took place in the Scandling Center at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva.

Sara Brown Ryan: Nurse, parish volunteer

Sara Brown Ryan is a longtime parishioner of St. Frances and St. Clare Parish in Waterloo and Seneca Falls, where she is a member of the parish council as well as the social-ministry and buildings and grounds committees. She also volunteers for the parish’s annual Vacation Bible School, summer festival and Advent By Candlelight event and is a catechist for confirmation candidates. She also is an active member and past regent of Court 806 of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas.

Brown Ryan served in the medical field for many years, working as a nurse on the surgical floor and emergency room at Geneva General Hospital; as a public health nurse and an environmental health public sanitarian through the Seneca County Health Department; and as nursing supervisor at the Huntington Living Center in Waterloo.

Deaconess Connie Glover: Founded organization that addresses food insecurity

Deaconess Connie Glover is a member of Penn Yan United Methodist Church, where she is a Communion steward and member of the congregation’s mission and worship teams. She has worked with Schuyler Cornell Cooperative Extension; Yates County Department of Social Services; the Keuka Food Pantry; and the Keuka Housing Council Inc. She founded and currently serves as executive director of the Penn Yan Community Cafe Inc., which is located within the Penn Yan United Methodist Church and addresses food insecurity among the impoverished and homeless in the region.

Glover also has been involved with the 2017 relocation of the Keuka Food Pantry as well as a number of other community events and initiatives. She is a member of the Penn Yan Elks Lodge No. 1722; a member of the Penn Yan Public Library’s board of directors; and district treasurer of the United Women of Faith.

Kirstin and Kipp Goodman: Longtime Catholic Charities staffer and Seneca County chief deputy sheriff

Kirstin and Kipp Goodman belong to St. Frances and St. Clare Parish, where they have been involved with the parish council and the parish’s summer festival. Kirstin Goodman worked for 28 years in the finance department of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Rochester and also worked at Finger Lakes Home Care/Visiting Nurse Services in Geneva and EG&G Wright Components in Phelps. Kipp Goodman worked for the Seneca County Sheriff’s Department for 31 years before retiring as chief deputy in 2023. He currently works on the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services’ STRIVE initiative (Statewide Targeted Reductions in Intimate Partner Violence).

The couple volunteers regularly at the Harmony Food Pantry, has coached youth sports through the Waterloo Community Center and sheltered youths in their home through Seneca County’s Runaway-Homeless Youth Program. Kirstin Goodman currently is the treasurer of Pathway Home of the Finger Lakes, while her husband is the treasurer of Safe Harbors of the Finger Lakes.

Mary Anne and Mike Hanna: Couple cares for grave sites of deceased military members

Mary Anne and Mike Hanna belong to Our Lady of Peace Parish in Geneva, where Mary Anne is an extraordinary minister of holy Communion and Mike helps take care of the buildings and gardens on the grounds of St. Stephen Church. Mary Anne Hanna was a preschool and elementary-school teacher for many years, including one year for the Diocese of Rochester in the 1970s. Mike Hanna served as an Army paratrooper during the Vietnam War and later as a football and lacrosse coach at Johns Hopkins University, the United States Naval Academy and Princeton University. He also served as athletic director at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva for 37 years.

The couple cares for the grave sites of service members buried at Soldiers Hill in Geneva’s Glenwood Cemetery. Mary Anne Hanna has served on the boards of directors of the Geneva Public Library and the Geneva Historic Board. Mike Hanna led the initiative to put a walking track in the field house at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, served on committees for renovating the Geneva Recreation Complex and was co-chair of the Rotary’s student-loan program for more than 20 years.

Douglas H. Mason: Active volunteer with parish, Scouts and food pantry

Douglas H. Mason is a parishioner at Sacred Heart Church in Auburn, where he serves as an usher and extraordinary minister of holy Communion. He also is president of the parish’s Men’s Club, which did much of the work of relocating the St. Alphonsus Food Pantry to its current location in the Fingerlakes Mall in 2024. Mason also volunteers at the food pantry and is the primary organizer of Auburn’s Scouting for Food initiative, which collects food for distribution to local food pantries.

Mason is very involved with Scouting America, which was formerly known as Boy Scouts of America. He is the committee chairperson of Troop 21 as well as a district committee member and a member of the Eagle Review Board for his district.

Mason worked for Sears Roebuck for more than 20 years before opening his own grocery and deli, which he operated for 25 years.

Bill Lamb: Dedicated his life to serving others

Bill Lamb was heavily involved in giving back to his community before his life was cut short by unexpected heart failure in October 2025. A Geneva native, Lamb spent 12 years working in the hotel business in Washington state before moving back to the Finger Lakes region in 1997 with his wife, Lauren. A lifelong Presbyterian, Lamb served on a number of committees and in leadership roles at the Presbyterian Church in Geneva.

Lamb worked for Catholic Charities of the Finger Lakes for 21 years and helped countless individuals throughout that time. He and his wife were instrumental in launching Family Promise of Ontario County, which helps homeless families in the county to become sustainably independent.