“It Takes a Village”

These were the words that came to Linda as she prepared for Bill and Maren (our President and our Operations Manager) to take a richly-deserved vacation this week. Linda knew she could rely on a “deep bench” of volunteers. It’s a blessing to rely on an energetic and enthusiastic team for responding to social workers, gathering and restoring donated furniture, and labeling items for pickup. It’s also a blessing to have leaders like Linda, Holly, and Barb to step in to lead and organize us all.

Among the clients we served this week were a family reestablishing themselves after a mental health crisis, a parent recovering from a back injury, a single mother with guardianship of her adult son living with disabilities, and a mother and daughter who came to the United States to escape a very dangerous situation in their home country.

We’re especially blessed to have volunteers who truly live the mission of providing care and imparting hope to these clients: Moved by the significant trauma in a client’s life, one of our volunteers offered a prayer shawl donated by a local church ministry program.

As we continue to serve our neighbors in need, we’re reminded of a prayer by Mother Teresa:
“Make us worthy, Lord, to serve our fellow human beings throughout the world who live and die in poverty and hunger. Give them through our hands this day their daily bread, and by our understanding love, give peace and joy.”

Volunteer Bonnie with prayer shawls donated by St. Mary of Sorrows Catholic Church