As a child, Rosie Arbittier participated in walkathons sponsored by her local synagogue and placed flags on soldiers’ graves on Veterans Day.
Rosie’s story is one of those shared on the Points of Light website (www.pointsoflight.org). This week (April 15-21) is National Volunteer Week.
Most children like the idea of helping others. Parents find this out when they ask their children to help pick up their toys or help set the table or clean up dishes after a meal.
We’ve encouraged our grandchildren to help when they visit our house. They seem happy to assist us, and I’m pleased to see they help when they visit other places.
Volunteering — like so many things — begins in the home. But it’s also important to teach kids about helping others outside of the home. As followers of Christ, we have an extra incentive in living out His commandment to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves.
When I’ve helped prepare and serve a meal at the Catholic Multicultural Center (CMC) in Madison, I always come away with a feeling of satisfaction.
I’ve played a role in providing a nutritious meal which the guests appreciate. And I have spent some time volunteering in our community. Hot meals are served every day of the week at the CMC, thanks to hundreds of volunteers who supply the food, get it ready, and serve it to the guests.
The CMC — like so many Church organizations — depends on volunteers. Volunteers are essential in our Catholic parishes, schools, hospitals and health care facilities, and other agencies such as Catholic Charities and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
In past years during tough economic times, there was a decrease in the number of people serving as volunteers in our country.
Fortunately, that has not been happening during our current economic crisis, reported a recent poll taken for PARADE magazine. Instead, this poll shows that there’s a “compassion boom” with more and more people helping others.
