National Volunteer Week: April 7-13, 2019

 

In recognition of National Volunteer Week, we at Saint John Kanty want to acknowledge our many volunteers that keep our church humming along the way we have come to expect. At our daily and weekend Masses, funeral Masses and other special Masses we have our volunteers serving as readers, Eucharistic ministers, altar servers and ushers, as well as our choir singing at Sunday Mass. Many of these same volunteers will soon be preparing our beautiful church for Holy Week and the Easter Triduum. On Holy Thursday busloads of people come to the East side to see our churches, and many families, or people making the Holy Thursday Pilgrimage on their own, also come.

For our many and necessary fundraising events there are volunteers that work to advertise, prepare and serve food, clean up, as well as in many other ways to ensure a pleasant and positive experience to all our many and faithful supporters. Some interesting facts: many of our volunteers are graduates of Saint John Kanty School, and a growing number of our many volunteers for our pierogi sale and other food events are non-parishioners and/or non-Catholics!

Today, April 8, marks the last day of Team Pierogi’s twice weekly get together. This group has been working since mid-January to prepare for the sale that started the first week of Lent. That’s A LOT of volunteer hours!! Our sale ends on Palm Sunday, and as in the past, lunch will be available, eat in or take out. We have been so fortunate this year to attract additional workers outside of our parish who have been regulars every week, sometimes coming in both work days. They have worked hard, purchased what they have made, spread the word of our ‘ministry’ to family and friends, and contributed their favorite dishes for our always delicious lunch following pierogi preparation. To quote the story in the March issue of the WNY Catholic, they can now say they are ‘pierogi artisans’!

Besides the benefits to society, scientific studies have shown that individuals who volunteer enjoy psychological and physical benefits, including increased satisfaction, improved sense of belonging, lower blood pressure, increased protection from Alzheimer’s, and decreased mortality. We are always in need of more volunteers, and if you have a few hours and feel inclined to help out your church, we would love to have you! Leave your name with Barb in the church office, along with your area of interest. One of our ongoing needs is for additional Eucharistic ministers; if you feel a call for this ministry, please step forward.

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