The following reflection is the WINNER of Catholic Volunteer Network’s annual Volunteer Story & Photo Contest and is now featured as the cover story of the 2020 edition of RESPONSE. Each year, we ask our member programs and their volunteers to submit stories of their daily life to share and celebrate their experiences of faith-based […]
Tag: belonging
“Choose Service Anyway” – CVN’s Story Contest WINNER!
Learning and Love at Covenant House
By Kevin Chung, Jesuit Volunteer Corps My perspective on social justice used to be that no matter whether a person is white, black, Asian, Hispanic, etc., they should receive the consequences for breaking the law. My college friend would always tell me that my perspective on social justice shouldn’t be that simple, because of the […]
Ignorant Bliss
By Lina Guerrero, Precious Blood Volunteers It was around 7 o’clock in the morning on October 10th, 2011 in Austin, Texas. I was seventeen years old and sitting outside on the porch of my house with our pastor Fr. Bill Wack, C.S.C. (now known as Bishop Bill, but I still can’t help but call him […]
I Encourage You to V.O.L.U.N.T.E.E.R.
By Katinka Kalusche, Brethren Volunteer Service Dear Future Volunteer: Congratulations on deciding to dedicate a part of your life to volunteering, to bringing both your knowledge and skills to a new place, and above all to expressing your love for people by serving others. Volunteering is so much more than just working without pay; it is […]
Dear Future Volunteer – lessons from running my first half marathon
Dear Future Volunteer, During my year of volunteering there were many exciting adventures. For instance, I ran my first half-marathon! I was inspired by some of the other staff at Christ House who actively participate in runs, such as John who ran his eighth marathon shortly after I arrived. Feeling confident in my summer training, […]