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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Volunteer calling


Volunteer Kay Conklin assists Charles McNew into her car in front of the Parsons Apartments in Spokane. Conklin picked up McNew to take him grocery shopping. 
 (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
Juan Juan Moses Correspondent

Most of us know that Catholic Charities Spokane, in collaboration with The Spokesman-Review and Volunteers of America, collects hundreds of thousands of dollars each holiday season for the Christmas Bureau program and distributes thousands of toys and vouchers to the area’s children and families in need.

But do you know that Christmas Bureau is only one of the 15 programs this charitable organization offers through out the 13 counties it serves in Eastern Washington? Since its inception in 1912, the House of Charity, independent from the Diocese of Spokane, has provided help and created hope for low-income and vulnerable people based on need, not creed, with its many services, one of which is the Volunteer Chore Services.

Volunteer Chores provides light housekeeping services as well as transportation and light house repairs to the low-income seniors and adults with disabilities. The services enable residents to age and live in place with dignity and comfort. In 2006, more than 2,100 people in the region received assistance from this program and 1,842 volunteers donated a total of 84,056 hours of services.

Closer to home, there are currently 150 volunteers actively helping a client base of 800 in Spokane County. “The volunteers come from all over – school, civic groups, churches, Boy Scouts and so on,” said Tom Carroll, director of the Senior Services programs.

“It is a great service to keep the low-income people from isolation,” Carroll said. “It enables them to be connected to the outside world.”

To encourage participation, the program offers mileage reimbursement for volunteers at 48.5 cents per mile to offset the cost for driving the clients to the grocery stores or doctors’ appointments.

“But it is really not about the cost,” Carroll said. “We have a lot of the volunteers who decline the reimbursement.”

“It is about compassion, dignity, giving and receiving,” agreed Loreen McFaul, development director for the organization.

McFaul stressed that these services, as with all other services that Catholic Charities offers, are based on need, not creed.

“Eighty-five percent of our clients are not Catholic,” she said. “They certainly need not to be Catholic to be served, and certainly one needs not be Catholic to donate. Our needs transcend all creeds.”

For more information on volunteering, call 328-8400 and ask for Judy Marte, the program manager. Or visit www.catholiccharitiesspokane.org.