The winners of the 2009 Egan Award for Journalistic Excellence competition were announced today at Catholic Relief Services' Baltimore headquarters. The award recognizes journalists who have written about humanitarian and social justice issues for Catholic publications in the United States. The 2009 winners are as follows:

• Division A (national circulation): Tom Roberts for his article "Siding with KIDS to end cruelty" in National Catholic Reporter

• Division B (regional circulation over 35,000): Rick DelVecchio for his article "Land of Modern Martyrs" in Catholic San Francisco

• Division C (regional circulation under 35,000): Dennis Sadowski for his article "Mission: Honduras" in Catholic Universe Bulletin

All winners will be awarded a trophy and an all-expense paid trip to visit Latin America to see CRS-supported programs that assist migrants and those living in poverty. The trip will provide the journalists with an opportunity to witness first-hand the work of CRS and to meet people whose lives have been changed by the generosity of the U.S. Catholic community.

The finalists for the Egan Award were judged by a distinguished panel of judges from the secular media, including Celia Dugger, co-bureau chief of the Johannesburg bureau of The New York Times, Hanna Ingber Win, World Editor of the Huffington Post, Keith Kohn, Night Editor for the Orlando Sentinel, and Cathy Majtenyi, journalist with Voice of America.

Now in its 14th year, the award is named after Eileen Egan, CRS' first professional staff layperson, who devoted four decades of her life to assisting refugees and helping the poor in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

For links to the winning entries, please visit http://crs.org/newsroom/egan-award/.

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Catholic Relief Services is the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. The agency provides assistance to people in more than 100 countries and territories based on need, regardless of race, nationality or creed. For more information, please visit www.crs.org or www.crsespanol.org.