Her award was one of several awards aimed at acknowledging local achievement for service to community where individuals such as Loretta are working with different people and agencies in order to provide weekly SRE lessons. 
Loretta has been an SRE volunteer for nearly 20 years and she has worked for 15 years as a trainer and support person. She currently represents the Catholic Church on the Inter-Church Commission on Religious Education in Schools (ICCOREIS).
Loretta was nominated by Office of Life and Faith Director, John Donnelly, because of “her passion and commitment to this ministry which she demonstrates at both a local level in Forster-Tuncurry, throughout the Myall and Hunter regions and now at our state level,” John said.
Loretta received her award on Thursday 22 November at the Parliament of New South Wales, Sydney. The event celebrated the contribution a diverse group of volunteers make to enriching education in NSW. SRE Providers and School communities working together and developing faith and values beyond the classroom for the wellbeing of students.
Special Guests at the event included The Hon Gladys Berejiklian MP Premier of NSW, Luke Foley MP Leader of the Opposition, The Hon Rob Stokes MP Minister for Education and Jihad Dib MP Shadow Minister for Education.
Loretta was also recently nominated by her colleagues at the Catholic Conference of Religious Educators in State Schools (CCRESS) to represent the NSW ACT Bishops on the NSW Department of Education SRE Consultative Committee.
In the photo:
Loretta celebrating her SRE Award with Jennie Nolan and John Donnelly. The other awardees are Alison Newell and Cheryl Clendinning supported by Michael Tebbutt