FORT WAYNE – On Friday, October 11, Nicole Hahn, Director of the Secretariat for Communications of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, was embraced by friends and family as she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from her alma mater, the University of Saint Francis. Photos by Clare HildebrandtNicole Hahn, Director of the Secretariat for Communications for the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, is presented the Distinguished Alumni Award for her career excellence and dedication to service during a ceremony at the university’s North Campus Auditorium in Fort Wayne on Friday, October 11. Hanh is joined on stage by Tony Didier, left, and University of Saint Francis President Lance Richey. At a banquet held in their honor at the North Campus Auditorium in Fort Wayne, the university recognized alumni who exemplify the mission of the university – namely, to live lives of “virtue, service, and joy.” Hahn was recognized for living out this mission through her ability to communicate and tell stories. Award winners hold their plaques as they line the stage during an alumni celebration at the University of Saint Francis on Friday, October 11. Nicole Hahn, second from left, who serves as the director of the Secretariat for Communications for the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, received the Distinguished Alumni Award. As a first-generation student, Hahn was the first to attend college in her family. Shortly after receiving her degree from what was then Saint Francis College, she was employed at Channel 21 as a producer. Hahn, an active parishioner at St. Mary Catholic Church in Huntington, worked in television news for more than two decades, demonstrating Christian virtue as she told the stories of people and events throughout the Fort Wayne community. In 2021, she was hired by the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend to serve as its Director of the Secretariat for Communications, the title she currently holds. Hahn’s husband, Jim, her two children, Cota and Tess, and friends, extended family, and co-workers were in attendance at the banquet honoring her and other Saint Francis alumni. St. Louis Academy Students Help Hurricane Victims Photos by Scott WardenSecond-grade students from St. Louis Academy in New Haven gather supplies donated by the school community for victims of Hurricane Helene on the morning of Friday, October 11. The second graders, along with other students, brought in items that included diapers, baby wipes, cleaning supplies, toiletries, non-perishable food items, and toys that were scheduled to be taken to Asheville, North Carolina, on Friday, October 18, by Buchanan Logistics, a trucking company based in Fort Wayne. Buchanan Logistics sought the help of the Fort Wayne community and set a goal to take 20 semi-trailers full of donations to the victims of Hurricane Helene. St. Joseph Students Pray Rosary for Life in Garrett Provided by St. Joseph SchoolStudents and staff of St. Joseph Catholic School in Garrett gather as a community to pray a Rosary for Respect Life Month on Monday, October 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. The post Around the Diocese: October 20, 2024 appeared first on Today's Catholic.