The 4th annual Joe Vogel “Pay it Forward” scholarship was presented to Connor Hagarty at a recent assembly.

On Monday, January 26th at a school assembly celebrating Catholic Schools Week, the award was bestowed on the recipient of this year’s scholarship is 10th grade student Connor Hagarty.

Connor, the son of Mike Hagarty and Maura Thompson Hagarty, was chosen because of the many ways he works to “Pay it Forward” at school, in the community and in his church.

When asked how he gets involved Hagarty added, “I helped with HCO all summer. I help with Catholic Worker once a month, on a Tuesday, cooking dinner.”

Others efforts of Connor’s include urban plunges on weekends and playing flute at mass on the weekends as well.

” I just hear about these opportunities from teachers or community members and I get interested. Volunteering is great because it is fun and it is great for people in need. It’s a great way to experience world issues, especially in Urban Plunges when we can see poverty and homelessness and take a step to help. Sometimes it is challenging to hear people’s stories.”

“Connor exemplifies Joe Vogel’s passion for doing good things for others” Team Vogel member and presenter Kristin Biesanz said.

Connor was selected to receive this award because he has:

• completed over 244 hours of community service the past semester
• volunteers at Home and Community Options – helping with summer musical
• volunteers at Catholic Worker House – recruiting other Cotter students to help cook and serve meals
• volunteers at his church, Saint Mary’s – plays music at Mass
• participated in the Urban Plunge in Minneapolis volunteering at Second Harvest, a hunger relief organization
• participated in the Phonathon at Cotter

“I would love to help out with anything to do with Team Vogel” said Connor. He will be looking into more events to get involved with and encourages everyone to get involved as well.