Dawn Shook arrived at a Catholic Ministries Appeal (CMA) Night of Prayer carrying more than most people could see.

It was February 2025, and she was navigating one of the most difficult seasons of her life. After years working as a government contractor, including time at the Pentagon, the Army veteran had recently been laid off. On a cold, dark night while her husband was traveling for work, Dawn decided to go to a CMA Night of Prayer at her parish, St. Maximilian Kolbe.

She was sitting alone with the heaviness of life pressing in on her when someone she had never met walked over to her.

“She introduced herself as Ann and said, ‘You can’t sit alone,’” Dawn remembers with a smile.

Ann invited Dawn to join her group and spent the evening talking with her. What seemed like a simple act of kindness would ultimately change the course of Dawn’s life.

After the event, Dawn wrote Ann a letter of thanks. The two then met for Mass and breakfast, and their friendship grew. On one of their outings, Ann invited Dawn to tour Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Center in Norwood. Amazed by what the Center had to offer, Dawn began volunteering there and eventually accepted a position as the Center’s managing director.

Looking back at that cold night in February, Dawn reflects, “It was a total God moment, I am sitting where I am today because of one night of prayer.”

This was not Dawn’s first leap of faith. She and her husband have financially supported the Catholic Church for more than two decades. After a visit to Cincinnati to renew their wedding vows at St. Peter in Chains Cathedral Basilica, they felt called to start a new chapter and trusted God to lead the way. They moved to Ohio in 2017, and continued their support through the CMA.

Trusting God with their finances sustained Dawn when she lost her job. With the family’s income cut in half, they began looking for places to trim expenses.

One thing never made the list.

“Even when I lost my job I thought, ‘We can start eating hot dogs and mac and cheese at home, but we’re not going to stop giving to the CMA,’” Dawn recalls.

Unity with the Body of Christ has also fortified Dawn in her spiritual walk. “The Catholic community here is very strong,” she explains. “The first thing we did when we moved was get involved with the Church because when you surround yourselves with faithful and like-minded people, then good things happen.”

Her understanding of community is rooted in one of her favorite moments from Scripture: Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry His cross.

“I’ve always loved the fifth Station of the Cross,” Dawn says. “It reminds me that God has placed ‘Simons’ in our lives to help us carry our own crosses.”

That belief is why the Catholic Ministries Appeal is so meaningful to her.

“Jesus didn’t ‘need’ Simon, but He used Simon to remind us that we need others and to accept that offer. It also reminds us that we may be reluctant ‘Simons’ to others, but God sends us to help those in need.”

This is at the heart of the CMA, the annual archdiocesan campaign that supports six local ministries that teach, feed, and heal. Through the CMA, Catholics join to strengthen local ministries that accompany people in faith, care for those in need, and create opportunities for evangelization and connection.

Those opportunities came alive in a new way for Dawn. An evening of loneliness and loss became the beginning of new friendship, discovery of a place to serve, and the birth of a new vocation.

When asked what she would say to someone considering a gift to the CMA, her answer is simple: “Just do it and see what happens. You never know what gifts it will reveal.”

For Dawn, God showed her that yet again, His generosity cannot be outdone.

Article by Lisa Fletcher