Volunteer

Sacred Heart Dinner Program Support Opportunities – 2017-2018

Board members--our Board of Directors, who oversee the program, can always use additional active members.  The Board meets once a month. 

Donors—Become a one-time or monthly donor by accessing our website, www.dinnerprogram.org and clicking on the “Donate Now” button.  You will be linked to the secure Network for Good donation site.  You can also deliver or mail a check to the rectory—checks should be made payable to Shrine of the Sacred Heart, noting “Dinner Program” in the memo line.  Mail to Shrine of the Sacred Heart, 3211 Sacred Heart Way, Washington, DC 20010.

Serve at dinner--Monday through Friday, 4-6:30pm for set-up, serving and cleanup.  Sign up through our website, www.dinnerprogram.org, Signup Genius, or send us a message at shdinnerprogram@gmail.com.

Interact with our dinner guests—we are committed to having a safe, welcoming environment for our dinner guests.  We can always use volunteers to interact with our dinner guests and help them feel welcome in our parish home while they are with us between 4:00 and 6:30pm each weekday. 

Interview dinner guests and become a mentor--we interview our dinner guests to learn each one's needs.  We have a standard set of questions and can always use more adults to help with these interviews.  If you help with interviews, you may find one or two individuals with whom you naturally develop an affinity and for whom you would like to become a mentor/cheerleader as the individual tries to take steps to address his/her challenges.  Help is needed between 4:00 and 6:30pm each weekday.

Provide referral services for our Dinner Guests--a volunteer attorney spends a few hours once a month from about 4:30-6:30 helping dinner guests with their legal and other needs.  We would like to expand to more days of legal services and could use more legal and other professional help.  The schedule could depend on the volunteer's schedule.

Panera Bread Pickup--Panera Bread will give us their leftover products (bread, cookies, etc.) if we have a volunteer to go to Panera around closing time (9:30pm or so) to pick it up and then to drop it off at the Rectory that evening or the next morning.  We do one day of pickup now and would like to expand to two days.

Martha's Table drivers--Much of the hot food we serve is donated by Martha's Table, which is on 14th St.  We have a crew of volunteer drivers who pick up the food at Martha's Table around 4:30 each day, deliver it to the Church basement and then return the empty containers to Martha's Table the same day around 6pm or so.  We sometimes need a regular replacement driver if someone drops out or a one-off replacement driver.

Donate food to be used during the week.  We can use extra casseroles, roasted chickens, hard-boiled eggs and fruit.  If you can bring one of these items on Sunday or during the week, please contact our Program Coordinator, Roxie Cruz to arrange a drop-off time (cruzsacredheart@gmail.com) 

Donate food/drinks for Holiday Dinners.  For Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, we solicit donations of food and drinks for a more elaborate meal for our dinner guests.  We normally serve at least 150 people at these special dinners, which are scheduled the Tuesday before the holiday.  Volunteers are needed from 3:00pm through 7pm for these dinners.

Sort new clothing for distribution to our dinner guests—before Thanksgiving, volunteers meet to sort and bag new winter clothing for distribution to our dinner guests at our Thanksgiving meal.  We could also use help at Thanksgiving dinner distributing the clothing.

Wrap Christmas gifts--one evening before Christmas, the Board and other volunteers have a pizza night in the Church basement starting around 6:30pm to wrap packages of warm clothing that we give those who attend our Christmas dinner.  We could also use help at the Christmas Dinner distributing the clothing.

Help with fundraising activities--we have a few annual fundraising activities for which help is always needed--organizing a restaurant fundraiser; United Way's DoMore24 day of fundraising; our October Hunger Fund Drive; grant-writing; soliciting neighborhood businesses for support, staffing a table at the Mt. Pleasant Farmer's Market on a Saturday to pass out information on the program.

Help with Dinner Program Newsletter—we would love to have help preparing articles for our donor newsletter.

How to become a volunteer—send your name and phone number in an email to shdinnerprogram@gmail.com to indicate how you would like to help or with any questions.