St. Joseph Catholic Church serves to foster personal and spiritual growth.
Founded in 1946, St. Joseph Parish was the first Catholic Church founded in Strongsville, Ohio. Their school opened in four years later and today, the K-8 program is recognized as a blue ribbon school. Located near the “Crossroads of the Nation,” St. Joseph Parish has an exciting array of ministries both inside their church and in the community. Throughout the year, they offer opportunities for leadership development, service to the community, personal growth, and social events.
Today our spotlight shines on Patricia Brodie, the Respect Life coordinator for the parish, who uses VolunteerSpot for online volunteer scheduling and for a realt-time snapshot of her scheduling resources.
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Please tell us about your organization, your event and your volunteer needs.
I coordinate the Respect Life ministry for a Catholic parish in Strongsville, OH. Recently we were preparing for our annual Mother's Day Drive to benefit Birthright, a local pregnancy resource center which is run by volunteers. The purpose of the drive was to collect new baby clothing, diapers and other baby items which Birthright can use in layettes given to all of their new moms. Our committee has 25 members serving a large parish in the suburbs of Cleveland, OH. This is only one of our committee's activities. Other activities include coordinating prayer vigils and other events at our parish and in our community, which promote and defend the dignity of all human life at all ages and stages.
Explain how you use VolunteerSpot to coordinate these volunteers.
With our busy schedules we find it difficult to schedule volunteers through phone calls. With more and more of our membership regularly relying on email for their communication needs, I thought it would be helpful to use VolunteerSpot as our online scheduling tool. One of the most helpful features of VolunteerSpot is that it allows our volunteers to directly see where scheduling needs are the greatest. When they see those holes in the schedule on their computer screens, they are more likely to notice a real need and step up to fill it. We also appreciate the automated reminder which saves even more time because your volunteer coordinator does not have to make reminder phone calls to ensure follow through.
What’s one piece of advice you have for volunteers or their leaders out there?
It's still important to accommodate the members of our group who do not use computers, so I love that VolunteerSpot allows the coordinator to make those necessary phone calls and add those without computer access to the schedule. I would encourage anyone coordinating volunteers to sign up for VolunteerSpot. It makes life easier for coordinator and volunteers alike!
Why did you decide to use VolunteerSpot?
For the past eight years I have worked in the profession of Volunteer Management and have used VolunteerSpot in my work. I thought it would be great to bring all of the features and helps of VolunteerSpot to my own volunteer work in our parish.
Anything else you’d like our readers to know about your organization or volunteering?
I would encourage everyone to find something that is their passion and get involved. In addition to helping others, you can learn new skills and meet others who share your passions. Don't be afraid to take on more leadership in your volunteer role. Technology is making it easier for us to fit leadership roles into our busy schedules.
To learn more about St. Joseph's, visit http://www.sjohio.org/
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We salute Patricia and all the other volunteer leaders out there making a difference. If you're using VolunteerSpot, write and tell us about what you're doing and give us a chance to shine our Volunteer Spotlight on you!! Just email us at [email protected].
