Almost 600 volunteers served more than 13,000 hours with Catholic Charities in 2023.
Volunteers serve in the food pantries at Catholic Charities housing sites. They prepare lunches for women experiencing homelessness. A team of volunteers from Holy Redeemer Church brings meals and does crafts for residents of Kenton Women’s Village. Others bring Sunday dinner to Kenton Women’s Village.
Some stuff envelopes with thanks to donors while others help refugees learn to navigate culture.
They are interns who work on legal matters with immigrants or serve refugee families. A Jesuit Volunteer is on a year-long placement doing outreach to homeless camps.
The busiest month was March, when more than 100 volunteers put in about 1,600 hours.
A smaller number were very busy in July, when 18 volunteers logged 1,171 hours of service for an average of 65 hours for the month.
This year already started out strong, with 33 volunteers serving more than 600 hours in January.
“We are so grateful to our dedicated volunteers,” said Natalie Wood, executive director of Catholic Charities of Oregon. “Not only do they dramatically extend our work, but they give their hearts and souls everywhere they serve. That’s a major contribution to honoring the human dignity of our clients.”
Volunteer Hannah Gustafson of St. Patrick Catholic Church, right, greets Nancy Jameson during food pantry hours at Esperanza Court, a Catholic Charities housing site in Southeast Portland.