By Father Christopher Kubat
On April 24, my administrative assistant Pat Walbrecht and I drove to Hastings to attend our annual volunteer appreciation luncheon. This is something we have done in other parts of the diocese as well.
The event was held in Centennial Hall at St. Cecilia Parish. Our volunteers were served finger-lickin’ fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and rolls. The dessert table contained desserts half the size of a football field. I believe this was so because whoever cut the pieces must have given up sweets for Lent.
Before and after eating, I tried to go from table to table to thank our self-less volunteers who do so much for Catholic Social Services. Our volunteers in Hastings do many things for the agency such as making and handing out sack lunches, answering phones, routine clerical work, working in our St. Joseph Gift & Thrift store, St. Andrew Food Pantry, baling used clothing that cannot be sold or given away, to name a few tasks.
All told, 234 volunteers in the greater Hastings area donated 8,328 hours at a value of $77,309 to the agency. This means there are more dollars to give away to clients for rent/utility assistance, housing for women who are escaping domestic violence and abortion (which is part of our St. Gianna’s West Program), grants for counseling for those who cannot afford the entire cost of counseling either because they are un-insured or under-insured, and more.
I would like to thank Jill McMahon, our volunteer coordinator in our Hastings office, and our Hastings staff for their hard work hosting this event. In addition, I would like to thank our many volunteers who work in the greater Hastings area. I would like to also thank our other volunteers who serve in Imperial, Lincoln and Auburn.
Recently, Sarah Huebner resigned her post as the volunteer coordinator in our Lincoln office to go home and work in South Dakota. I am happy to announce that Angela Reiling is our new volunteer coordinator in Lincoln. If you feel called by the Holy Spirit to do something to support the work of Catholic Social Services, please do not hesitate to contact us at our Imperial, Hastings, Lincoln or Auburn offices.
And please remember these words of our risen savior Jesus Christ when he walked the face of the earth, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us!
