They certainly didn’t do it for the recognition, but the Dominican Sisters of Springfield recently won a national award recognizing their anti-racism efforts. Illinois Times profiled the Sisters’ program last year. (See “Rooting out systemic racism,” Jan. 15, 2015.) LeadingAge, which represents nonprofits serving aging populations, announced last week that the Dominican Sisters at Sacred Heart Convent in Springfield won the 2016 Hobart Jackson Cultural Diversity Award, honoring the Sisters’ “conscious, committed effort to dismantle racism wherever it exists.” LeadingAge noted that the Sisters partner with groups inside and outside their own organization “to confront racial biases and embrace diversity - in the congregation, the church and the world.” The Sisters will accept their award at LeadingAge’s national conference in Indianapolis on Oct. 31. “We are honored to be recognized by LeadingAge,” said Sister Marcelline Koch, who co-leads the antiracism team with Leroy Jordan of Springfield.

“The real work of dismantling racism requires that we don’t rest on our laurels, though. There is much work to be done, for each of us individually and as a community.” The next public anti-racism training at Sacred Heart Convent is Dec. 1-3. For more information, contact John Record at jrecord29@gmail. com or 414-1772.