Catholic Charities--Miriam

1.  I volunteered at Catholic Charities in Mattoon, IL.
2.  Catholic Charities is an organization similar to that of Good Will, Salvation Army, and some thrift shops.  They take in donations and sell the things that come in at low cost.  They do more than just sell things though.  Catholic Charities has a lot of programs designed to help out the disadvantaged family.  They provide vouchers for different things like baby formula.  They have a system equivalent to a food bank where boxes of food are pre packed for families depending on the amount of people in each family.  These boxes are designed to sustain a family for two to three days.  Although most of what is sold at Catholic Charities and some of the things that are donated are used, they make up baby baskets of all new items for mother's with newborns.  I also learned about a program they are in the midst of improving.  Each summer they have gone around the local area to provide clothes and school supplies for students.  This year Catholic Charities is going to partner with the Salvation Army to pack backpacks for the students and have everything ready for them.  People can preregister to get the supplies that they need for their children.  With the back pack they will receive a voucher to get clothes from the store because there are too many different sizes and possibilities to be able to adequately pre pack clothes.  All of these different programs and the store itself go toward helping people of disadvantage.  There is not a specific age range that Catholic Charities reaches out to, but their services are available to all people.  During my time there I saw an elderly couple, a young mother with her little girl, and a single middle aged man.
3.  The staff at Catholic Charities is made up of a wonderful group of people.  I was introduced to the director and the manager.  They rely a lot on the help of volunteers too, in part because they cannot afford to pay employees.  They are very generous and most of the money that comes in goes to keeping the lights on and the place running.  I learned a lot from the both the director and the store manager.  They are busy women, but the are very organized and keep the place running.  They have many projects going at once but through it all they are very humble and grateful.  They genuinely care for other people and want to help, and they do so in the best way they know how.  They also emphasized the importance of confidentiality and how important it is to protect the people who use their services.  I was very encouraged by my interactions with this women.  I gained a deeper insight of what it's like to work and serve other people.
4.  Catholic Charities has a great potential to serve the surrounding communities.  They have a lot of resources that people can take advantage of, but it's a matter of people doing so.  One thing that may be a drawback is that it is located on the outside of town and may not be accessible to everyone who could benefit from its services.  However, they do have programs like the backpack give away where they go around to the schools.  A lot of people go through Catholic Charities and would likely be a lot worse off if it was not available.  Catholic Charities is a great resource for people to get at least the basic necessities that one needs to live.
5.  I am very happy that I had the opportunity to serve at Catholic Charities and I am looking into volunteering more in the future.  After learning about all that they do the main task I did while there was sorting through formal wear and prom dresses.  I was instructed to sort by style and the like but also to look over the dresses and make sure they were of good quality.  Catholic Charities wants to provide the best for their customers and make sure what they are selling is of quality even though it's not new.  The items they do not use are not thrown away and they are used somewhere, but to make sure people are getting the best of what they can provide is important to them.  I think volunteering in general is very beneficial.  It is helpful to whichever organization one is helping out at and it can be a very  humbling experience.