For the past 20 years, Maureen Fergus Sheehan has devoted her career to helping the poor, the hungry and the less fortunate.
Sheehan, development director at the multi-service nonprofit Part of the Solution (POTS) on Webster Avenue (between 197th and 198th streets), was honored at the New York City Council’s annual

Celebration of Irish Heritage and Culture on March 9. She was honored on behalf of her devotion toward meeting the needs of low-income New Yorkers and those in need.

Sheehan, whose grandparents emigrated from County Mayo in Ireland, began working for POTS agency as a Jesuit volunteer in 1990 and has worked her way up to where she is today.

She also served as the director of Development & Communications for New York City’s Food Bank, the coordinator of the Office for the Homeless of Catholic Charities Archdioceses of New York and the director of corporate and foundation relations for Catholic Charities.

She has been an active member of the Board of Directors of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH) since 1996 and is currently the agency’s secretary.

Other honorees included Council Speaker Christine Quinn, John Murphy of Irish Network NYC, Larry McCarthy of the Gaelic Athletic Association of Greater New York and the late Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, who was awarded “Irish Man of the Year.” His niece, Caroline Kennedy, accepted on his behalf.