This feature is one in our series of contributions from our area-aligned Mission Directors who are helping IS caregivers to Mission service opportunities and enrich our IS connection to the Mission under the leadership of Chief Mission Officer for Enterprise Shared Services, Sr. Susanne Hartung. Each feature focuses on a Mission Director sharing an inspiring Mission service activity underway in their area. This month we hear from Southern California area Mission Director, Patrick Saia.
When people come together for the purpose of service something remarkably meaningful occurs: human connection.
This fall, on Saturday, September 28, a group of IS caregivers, including Jenny Cheng, Heather Bartlett, and Peggy Hitchcock, in Southern California, along with one-hundred volunteers joined together for the fourth annual “Day of Service in Our Neighborhoods,” in partnership with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange. The goal of joining together was simple: To address the needs in the local community. As a result, over a dozen different sites of service were identified for collaboration. These included:
- HomeAid Orange County
- La Amistad
- Thomas House Family Shelter
- Fristers
- Orange County Ronald McDonald House
- L’Arche Wavecrest
- Taller San Jose Hope Builders
- Bread for the World
- Orangewood Foundation
- Bread of Angels
- Bridges at Kraemer Place
- Grandma’s House of Hope
- La Mesa Emergency Shelter
- Letter writing workshop (hunger, international aid, and immigration)
Additional projects involved preparing and serving lunches, cleaning, gardening, organizing supplies, letter writing workshops (hunger, international aid, and immigration), crafts, and knitting blankets/quilts and scarfs.
Jenny Cheng, sr. IS program manager, partnered with Sister Louise and, together, they served as team captains for leading a group of Sisters and caregivers in knitting scarves and crocheting 12-inch squares to create quilts for persons in need of housing.
Their service continues, as they will reconvene again this November 9. Then, on December 14, they will come together to deliver the completed craft to those in need.
When you pause long enough and consider the act of knitting and distill it down to the simplest of tasks, perhaps you will notice more is being knitted together than meets the eye! The fabric of “care” is woven together to demonstrate dignity and value on behalf of others.
Ultimately, stitching together the tapestry of our promise, “Know me, care for me, ease my way” becomes a real, tangible and practical exercise in serving others.
It is through the simple act of service that life-giving human connection may occur and someone can discover the warm-heartfelt reality of being cared for.
-Patrick
Learn more
See photos from the Orange County day of service.
Contact Jenny Cheng if you’re interested in getting involved in these Orange County-led Mission service efforts.