Volunteers are the life-blood of the Catholic Worker!
|
|
|
|
|
Bob Lasalle-Klein,
Interim Program Director
|
|
|
From the Director's Desk
This fall, the Oakland Catholic Worker is humming with activity. While our volunteers and staff serve thousands of meals and teach ESL classes four days a week, a host of little children fills the house with life.
Bishop Barber recently invited the OCW to participate in the Safe Environment Program of the Oakland Diocese, and all members of the staff have now been finger printed and cleared to work with children. This allowed us to welcome three homeless families with eight children from Mexico and Guatemala. Our hope is to provide them with central heating for the first time as we begin our 30th year of operation! For you, this task may provide an opportunity to meet our wonderful staff and families as we can use lots of help restoring and providing heat for our beautiful old home at 4848 International. Come join us and pick up what Pope Francis calls the "smell of the sheep" in your very neighborhood!
With hope and love, Bob Lassalle-Klein
|
|
|
|
Since we are involved in such major renovations this year, your financial contributions are especially valued this time around. Click on the link below to bring much-needed warmth into our chambers.
|
|
|
|
|
Tom Webb,
Development and Social Outreach Coordinator
|
|
|
Outreach and Beyond
In my two + years at the Catholic Worker I have seen volunteers come to us from all stages of life. I have seen school age children who provide gifts at Christmas time, high school confirmation students who prepare and serve hot food, college students who spend time with us as part of service-learning projects, young adults who make commitments of a year or more as staff members, parishioners who make a monthly commitment of time and talent. and retirees who drop in once a week to help us with the endless tasks in our office. Every Thursday, a diverse group of volunteers chats amid the various tasks of our busy food distribution line, enhancing to our atmosphere of giving with their joyful generosity. All these wonderful people contribute to the life and fabric of the Oakland Catholic Worker.
On behalf of all of our staff, I would like to thank all our volunteers for the great work they do around here.
|
|
|
|
The OCW
25 Lb bags of white rice and pinto beans
Child's car seat (for ages 4-5)
PowerPoint projector
Laptop
Drying racks
Bar and liquid hand and body soap, shampoo, feminine hygiene products, shaving cream, toothpaste and toothbrushes
Blankets, warm clothes and coats to prepare for the rainy season
|
|
|
|
Juan "Chepe" Zavala,
Board chairperson
|
|
|
Chepe's Corner
Over my many years of involvement with the Oakland Catholic Worker I have witnessed the immeasurable value of volunteers. It was volunteers who helped us repair the kitchen ceiling when it collapsed a few years ago. It was volunteers who repaired the wind-damaged siding over our side porch last fall. It was volunteers who spent an entire Saturday weeding, pruning and preparing our back yard for last spring's celebration of Archbishop Romero's beatification. It was volunteers who helped re-paint the bedrooms, bathrooms and hallways this past summer. And it continues to be the volunteers who help us every day in innumerable ways.
Because volunteers are vital to the fulfillment of our mission, we are always grateful for more of them. This fall, we especially need help on the weekends to assist us with repairs and remodeling. Please contact Maria Benevento if you are interested.
|
|
|
|
|
Oakland Catholic Worker
Volunteer Appreciation Day
Sunday October 11th
2:00 to 5:00 p.m.
|
|
Wish List
Looking for other ways to give? We are always in need of donations that help us serve our guests in the house and friends on the streets.
Job referrals and day laborer positions for our guests
Men's, women's, and children's underwear all sizes. We all wear 'em, please share 'em (the unused kind).
Household cleaning agents: Pine sol, dish soap, cleanser, toilet cleaner,lysol or lysol wipes, oven cleaner, laundry soap, etc.
Shopping cards to Smart and Final, Safeway, Big Lots, Target, Home Depot, Office Depot or Walgreens
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dorothy Day:
A Radical Catholic for Our Times
Martha Hennessy
(Granddaughter of Dorothy Day)
Wednesday October 28, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Newman Hall/Holy Spirit Parish
2700 Dwight Way
Contact Kara Speltz at kara4peace@aol.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
