BOSTON -- The annual Catholic Charities Laboure Center Spring Reception will welcome friends and supporters of the center to celebrate and honor Father Joe White with the Jack Shaughnessy Service Award, April 26 at the John Hancock Financial building in Boston.

Father White is the pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Boston's West End and is the director of the Archdiocesan Addiction Recovery Pastoral Support Services, an archdiocesan ministry that collaborates with various agencies and organizations to assist parishes with education, prevention, treatment, and solutions for the disease of addiction.

Recognized as a leader in the field of addiction, Father White has served on the Governor's Council for Addiction for the past two years, and has facilitated numerous discussions and workshops on addiction. He is known for having helped thousands of people who are suffering, or have a family member who is suffering from the disease of addiction.

The Jack Shaughnessy Service Award, presented yearly to an individual who has shown exceptional dedication and service to Laboure and to the Boston community, will be received by Father White during the Spring Reception. The award is given in remembrance and in gratitude for the service and generosity of Jack Shaughnessy Sr., a major benefactor of Catholic Charities.

The reception will feature both a silent and a live auction to raise funds for programs.

Catholic Charities Laboure Center is one of 26 service sites owned and operated by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Boston to empower over 3,000 children, teens, families, individuals, and elders in South Boston through a range of programs and services, including education and job training. It is also the home of Catholic Charities' Refugee and Immigration Services, which yearly aids thousands of refugees and immigrants through legal assistance, interpreter services, refugee resettlement and ESOL classes.