CCS honors volunteers at annual appreciation luncheon

Friday, Feb. 12, 2016

OGDEN — Catholic Community Services honored the Knights of Columbus and St. Joseph Catholic schools among the 10 group and individual volunteers during the annual Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon at Northern Utah Food Bank Feb. 1.

Randy Chappell, CCS Northern Utah director, welcomed and thanked the volunteers for their help in all of CCS’ programs: the food pantry that assists 2,300 households, Bridging the Gap that provides about 500 students each week with supplemental weekend meals and Saint Martha’s Baby Layette Project that provides about 70 mothers a month with layettes for newborns being born into poverty.

“We couldn’t do the work we do without the volunteers. We are grateful they are part of CCS of Northern Utah,” Chappell said.

“The lifeblood of CCS in general are our volunteers,” said Bradford Drake, CCS CEO. “We have more than 4,200 volunteers that participate each year with CCS in northern Utah; seven years ago we had about 100 volunteers. We have made huge strides and awareness of our needs in the community and we are so grateful and thankful for what they do for us.”

On a yearly basis, CCS Northern Utah distributes more than 17,700 bags of food, the equivalent of more than 3 million pounds of food; volunteers provide 30,270 hours of service; and more than 700 layettes are given away, said Rebecca Van Maren, CCS Northern Utah volunteer coordinator.

“The volunteers go above and beyond and do so with dignity, respect and welcoming ways,” said Van Maren. “They are outstanding in so many ways; they are super heroes.”

Seven Knights of Columbus councils of northern Utah were named the Community Partner volunteers for their community spirit, said Van Maren. “The Knights participate in the Coats for Kids giving away hundreds of coats from Layton to Logan; they give with compassion and have done so for many years.” 

Each year the Knights in northern Utah host fundraisers in their respective parishes, asking parishioners for help raising funds and donating gently used coats to be distributed to the less fortunate in Cache, Box Elder, Weber and Davis counties, said Knight of Columbus John Valdez, District Deputy.

“We accept this award on behalf of all our Knights, their families and our fellow parishioners in humble gratitude for the graces given to us by God,” said Valdez. “It is with great joy and satisfaction that the Knights are able to fulfill our guiding principles: Charity, unity and fraternity. Every year the communities give more and more; they donated more than 10,000 pounds of food every year as well. We also are grateful to United Way of Northern Utah who partnered with us by paying the shipping costs on the new coats we order.”

Also honored was St. Joseph Catholic Schools, which received the Youth Group Partner award for participating in the Souper Bowl of Caring. 

“The St. Joseph Catholic Schools have been a longtime supporter of CCS of Northern Utah,” said Van Maren. “I think almost every service project the elementary school does supports CCS.” 

The schools have taken it one step further this year. St. Joseph Elementary School Principal Nancy Essary provided the opportunity for all students over the age of 8 to take a field trip to CCS to provide services and learn about CCS so they could understand the impact of the food drives. 

“The elementary school brings in more pounds of food in the Souper Bowl of Caring than any other food drive we have,” Van Maren said.

The Souper Bowl of Caring is a national food drive held around the time of the NFL Super Bowl.

St. Joseph Catholic High School also increased its donation this year, Van Maren said. “Students did service projects at CCS and learned the behind-the-scenes works, from loading trucks to grocery rescue, helping clients and Bridging the Gap.”

SJCHS freshman Jewell Tovar participated in Bridging the Gap and enjoys getting to know the elementary students, she said. “They are so happy when they see foods they like: mac and cheese and yogurt. Plus, when I was their age, my family went to CCS to get food, so it’s nice to give back. CCS makes it so the kids don’t know they can’t afford food. I didn’t know my family couldn’t afford food; I just thought we were grocery shopping.”