Service Sendout - February 2020
Thank you for your interest in sharing your heart and hands this Lent!
All individuals and families planning to volunteer, MUST RSVP on the parish website. Some events require an online signup with the organization or signed waivers to be completed. You will be emailed directly if either of these are needed. Please click on each organization of interest to learn more about the service opportunity. You may also visit each organizations website for more details on their mission or financial giving.
Tuesday, February 25 from 6:00-7:45pm. Ages 8+. Limited Spots available.
UMOM restores hope and rebuilds lives by providing shelter, services and affordable housing for people experiencing homelessness. For UMOM, shelter is a strategy. The moment a family or individual steps into shelter, we listen. Want to help a child build a lifetime love of reading? Readers know it expands your mind and your world. It’s a powerful gift.
Every Tuesday night at the UMOM New Day Centers main campus, volunteer readers work with children ages 4 -12 years old. Children pick out and read a book with their volunteer partner. Through these positive, one-on-one experiences with you, their minds open in new and marvelous ways.
Tuesday, February 25 from 1:00-3:00pm. All Ages and Levels.
The St. Benedict Parish Crochet and Craft Ministry meets every Tuesdays from 1-3pm in Annex 2 to create items of comfort for those in need of healing and care. Share your time with them!
Wednesday, February 26 from 2:30-4:00pm. Ages 10+.
Did you know that more than 200 children in the Kyrene School district boundary live in their cars or other temporary shelter? The Kyrene Family Resource Center is a joint effort between the Kyrene School District and the Kyrene Foundation which provides Kyrene families in need access to resources to assist with their basic needs: food, school clothing for children, school supplies, enrichment scholarships and referral for emergency resources. The Kyrene Family Resource Center is open to any family that has a student enrolled in the Kyrene School District. Our mission is “removing barriers to learning” and the resources provided support that mission.
Help organize the shelves of the Resource Center for families in need. Donations welcome: diapers, toilet paper, granola bars and cereal.
Thursday, February 27 from 3-4pm. All Ages.
Oakwood gives purpose, meaning, and a place to belong for adults living with cognitive and physical challenges. OCC Clubs are radically changing the way care is provided. No more bingo! No more sitting around watching TV! No more coloring! No more scrubs! We are bringing back the joy in aging! We believe that a diagnosis does not define your life and that there is treatment beyond a pill. Research suggests that even though the brain is deteriorating in certain areas and causing impairments in thinking, memory, and judgment; individuals can visually communicate through the creative center of the brain even when they are no longer verbal. OCC offers a research-based, cutting edge, person-directed care model focusing on strengths, interests, and wellness. Allowing our Members to remain at home with their families while remaining engaged with purpose and meaning.
Join us for a joy-filled hour of song and creativity.
Friday, February 28 from 4:00-6:30pm. Ages 9+.
The Dream Center corner of the Family Dining Room provides food for thought and imagination as volunteers tutor, read, or lead children's activities.
Assist the children with reading, arts and crafts, meal set-up, and games.
Saturday, February 29 from 8:00-10:00am OR 12:00-2:00pm. Age 10+.
St. Mary’s Food Bank distributes 45,000 Emergency Food Boxes, at no cost, to individuals and families in need each month. A majority of those receiving Emergency Food Boxes include the elderly, children, working families and the homeless.
Join us to pack these emergency food boxes with non-perishable items, sort food or repack bulk produce. Positions include high impact roles such as palletizing the completed boxes, as well as, less strenuous jobs that can be done seated.
Saturday, February 29 from 7:30-11:30am. Ages 12+. (*Start and End location differ)
Furnishing Dignity transforms lives through community, compassion and essential home furnishing by supporting those on a path to self-sufficiency. Our service allows our clients to focus on work, school, and caring for their families
Come make a difference by turning a house into a home. Help clean, tag, and pack household items and furniture for delivery based on our clients’ wish list including desired colors and styles. We will load the truck, drive to the client’s home, unload the truck, set up the furniture and unpack household items. Volunteers are asked to carpool or drive themselves to the delivery location. Location of delivery will be determined closer to the work date. Able-bodied volunteers may be asked to lift heavy items and/or assemble furniture. There are less strenuous volunteer activities as well (unpacking boxes and making beds. We start at 7:30am at our storage unit, Armored Self Storage, 14245 S. 48th Street, Phoenix, 85044. A Volunteer Waiver and Confidentiality Agreement MUST be signed prior to volunteer day. Ending time is tentative based on the number of families we are packing for, but usually ends by 11:30am.
Join us on Moving Day to assist with delivery as we transform a house into a home for a homeless family, individual, or foster youth. No photos may be taken.
Saturday, February 29 from 8:00-10:00am. All ages.
Health and wellness is a top priority as we aim to address root causes of poverty and food insecurity. Thanks to the outpouring of community support, the Rob and Melani Walton Urban Farm includes nearly one acre of farmland with a variety of fruits and vegetables, an aquaponics system that produces tilapia and a robust composting program that turns kitchen scraps into valuable soil to grow more food. Using permaculture and natural farming methods, we eliminate the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. We know that healthful and foods lead to healthy and productive lives. By ramping up production and growing our own produce, we ensure that we are providing the very best to those who need it the most. All of the fruits and vegetables go straight to our central kitchen to be incorporated into daily meals.
Volunteers will fulfill seasonal needs for pruning, weeding, harvesting and planting. Gardening gloves, hats and sunscreen recommended!
Saturday, February 29 from 12:00-1:30pm. Ages 6-18.
AAWL works to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome dogs and cats, throughout Arizona that have been surrendered, abandoned, abused & neglected. In addition, it reduces shelter population and the relinquishment of animals by offering affordable veterinary care and dog training to the public. AAWL also educates the next generation while teaching compassion for all living things to people of all ages.
Kids age 6-18 can spend the morning learning and caring for shelter animals. Activities may include: reading to dogs, making adoption posters, playing in the yard with a dog, making enrichment toys for the animals, doing keeper care for the exotic animals, and/or interacting with exotic animals up close and personal. A waiver MUST be signed prior to service. $15 donation required. *Children remain under the supervision of a paid AAWL Educator. A limited number of adult chaperones may join them.
Choose one of the At Home opportunities:
- All parishioners are invited to bring any excess citrus from your yard to Mass on Feb. 22/23. Donated citrus will be taken to St. Mary’s Food Bank to kick off our week of service!
- Make a Fleece Blanket for families assisted by Furnishing Dignity. (No sewing required!) Click here for instructions.
- Put together an essential Hygiene Kit for homeless families assisted by Family Promise (please include only the requested items). Click here for instructions.
- Grab some family, friends or teammates and clean up trash around your neighborhood, at your favorite park or after your practice.
- Sew a Travel Bag for foster children who only have a trash bag to store all of their belongings in. Click here for instructions.