WHO IS HIS HANDS & FEET MINISTRY FOR?
His Hands & Feet Ministry pairs parishioners in need with those willing to share their talents, gifts, and/or special interests.
The goals of the ministry are to 1) enrich the sense of community within the parish, 2) to offer compassionate, personal support to parishioners in need, and 3) to provide a way for parishioners to experience the blessings that come through being of service to another.
We ask each parishioner to search his/her heart to discern ways to serve our faith community. Each week our brothers and sisters of faith are seated next to each other at mass, sometimes with heavy hearts, borne of stress, loneliness, illness, marital strife, financial hardships and many other concerns that keep them from living joyfully in the spirit of the Lord.
WHAT DOES THE MINISTRY DO?
As parishioners communicate needs, either directly to the ministry, or through the Newman staff, the ministry emails a general description of the need to parishioners who have indicated a desire to be of assistance. Those responding positively are introduced to the individual/family in need. Personal details of all parties kept confidential until the parties meet to establish their working relationship. The ministry steering committee meets quarterly.
MINISTRY POTLUCK, SATURDAY, MAY 26
What has been going on? Who has been served? What kind of help is needed? Curious? To find out, please join members of the ministry for a potluck brunch on Saturday, May 26 from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. in the Multiversity Room
His Hands and Feet volunteer and Maryknoll missionary will be joining us to tell us about her work in Bolivia.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Following is a listing of specific requests for assistance the Ministry has recently received. If you would like to offer assistance or have questions, please contact us. If more than one volunteer responds, we will form a team.
- A parishioner is requesting a ride to 9:30 a.m. Sunday mass from Richmond.
- A parishioner is requesting occasional assistance with errands / transportation. He is a Berkeley resident.
- A parishioner who lives in Berkeley is requesting a weekly ride for shopping.
- The ministry wants to improve how new parishioners are welcomed into our community, specifically newborn babies. We are planning to present the newborn with a blanket or a knit sweater or cap. If you would like to sew/knit for this ministry, please contact us.
- If you know of a fellow parishioner who is expecting please contact the ministry with the mother’s name and phone number. If you would like to be one of the volunteers who makes a blanket, or knits a sweater or cap, please contact the ministry
CONTACT THE MINISTRY:
1. Email the ministry at handsandfeetnewman@sbcglobal.net
2. Call the ministry at (510) 848-7812 x402
3. Fill-out a card requesting assistance or offering your talents and return it to the receptionist
4. Talk to a parish staff member
TESTIMONIALS
A Letter from Alice
I have been a parishioner at Newman Hall for many years and volunteer for Loaves & Fishes. I am on a very low fixed income and have been on a waiting list for seven years to get an apartment at a subsidized senior facility. Finally, at the end of this past March, an apartment became available for April 1st. I realized I had less than one month to pack-up my belongings where I lived for 33 years, move everything including all the furniture of my 1 bedroom apartment and felt scared and overwhelmed. Anyone I know is elderly and not able to physically help me. I could not afford to hire help. I rarely ask for help, but remembered hearing about His Hands & Feet Ministry and all of the many ways they help people.
I decided to call and see if there was any chance for me with such short notice to get assistance – and BAM!! I immediately received a call-back, and with positive support, a move date was set. I received the names of and contact information of four volunteers with every detail checked and confirmed for my “moving crew.” Talk about great customer service. I was in the hands of the best professional movers! Everything was so organized.
On moving day, Wendy, Linda, Roger and Tim showed-up right on time, assessed how the truck should be loaded properly and within one hour my apartment was cleared-out. I was so exhausted from all of the previous packing, I just watched with amazement as they worked so hard together as a team, with great humor and joy.
When we arrived at my new apartment, my team unloaded everything and put the furniture where it needed to be, even putting together my futon. I was worried for so long before this day, that in just a few hours I felt all the stress leaving my body, and a great sense of relief overcame me. I was in awe of these wonderful generous people. They gave up a Sunday afternoon to help me, a total stranger, and they were glad to do it. I was so grateful and I realized that they really were doing what Jesus asks of all of us – to help those in need. And I also learned to ask for help and received it. God bless you ALL and all that you do for the community – your support was such a comfort and blessing for me and I can live a quality life now in my new home. Thank you so much. P.S. Everything got here in perfect condition. I will never forget this experience – remarkable!
Sincerely,
Alice Kurpiewski
A Letter from Myra
“The HH&F ministry showed me and my family how Christ cares for us daily, concretely and very, very willingly. For six weeks after the birth of our daughter, HH&F volunteers came to our home to tend to the tasks that I couldn’t physically do myself. What struck me most about these ministers was the grace and joy with which they performed such tasks. Washing dishes, laundry, cleaning the bathroom, etc. are by no means glamorous jobs, and if you are like me, it can be very difficult to ask for help for fear of burdening others. Yet the HH&F ministers responded to my and my family’s need for assistance instantaneously and with patience and warmth.
In addition to giving me time to recover from my c-section, they gave me and Jamal the chance to focus on our newborn as well as each other. Any free time from the baby that otherwise would have been spent catching up with chores was made available for Jamal and myself to simply sit down and be present with one another. It was the ministers themselves who first made us aware of this necessity, and in this way, the HH&F ministers were also doing family ministry! We are so thankful for the HH&F ministry and for its particular witness to Christ’s life and love.”
-Myra Capulong
A Letter from Ann
“As a volunteer with the His Hands and Feet ministry at Newman, I was pleased to be asked to provide meals two days each week to a parishioner recovering from serious surgery. My visits with the recovering parishioner were pleasant, and I was heartened to note her progress each week. Some of our sharing dealt with how very much Newman means to both of us! Certainly, I feel more deeply connected to the Newman community because of my participation as a volunteer with HH&F.”
-Ann Kennedy