COMMUNITY SERVICE CLUB UPDATE

The Community Service Club continues with the volunteer projects we have been working on all year. Please see the list below for dates and times. Sign up for any or all of our projects in Sr. Elena’s office, located across from the Bold Union or email Sr. Elena at elena.almendarez@laroche.edu.

Our next Community Service Club meeting will be Wednesday, April 16, 2008 in the Bold Union at 1:00 p.m.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Birthday Parties with the Sisters: Each month, students are invited to share their time, energy, and love of parties with the retired Sisters at Providence Heights. Party set up begins at 1:00 p.m. with the Sisters coming to the party at 2:00 p.m. Each month has a theme and students help decorate, as well as serve food, sing songs and play games. Come join the fun!

Myriam’s Shelter: Students are invited to help serve a meal at Myriam’s Shelter. Located in the uptown section of Pittsburgh, Myriam’s offers an evening meal and overnight accommodations for women who are homeless. Our students leave around 3:00 p.m. and return by six. For more information or to sign up, please contact Sister Ella Jane Bruen in Residence Life at x1200 or at ellajane.bruen@laroche.edu.

Operation Save-A-Life: Twice a month, students are invited to volunteer with Operation Save-a-Life, taking blankets, hats, gloves, and socks, as well as other supplies, to the homeless living on Pittsburgh’s Northside. Groups of no more than seven students accompany a Save-a-Life street guide, who leads the group in locating homeless men and women in need of care. This is done on a Tuesday evening. The cars leave at 5:30 p.m. and return around 9:00 p.m. If you are interested, please contact Sr. Elena in Campus Ministry or elena.almendarez@laroche.edu.

Animal Friends: Students from La Roche are encouraged to reach out to serve all creation, and in keeping with this, we are now volunteering with Animal Friends, a no-kill shelter in the North Hills. Dogs, cats and rabbits are kept at the shelter and in need of volunteers to work with them for play, exercise, and companionship. All students must attend a mandatory orientation to learn how to work with the animals. If you are interested, sign up on the door of Sister Elena’s office or contact Sister Elena at X1053 or elena.almendarez@laroche.edu.

Treasure House Fashions: This organization is located in the North Hills, adjacent to the Shops at Northway. It is a wonderful resale shop for gently used women’s professional and casual clothing. It was established to with a twofold purpose: 1) to help women who were re-entering the job market but lacked the funds to get a professional wardrobe obtain professional clothes at minimal cost. 2) All proceeds from the sale of their clothing go to fund scholarships for children of single mothers.
Treasure House is looking for students to volunteer to help work their fashion show this spring, and to help with current restocking for the spring season. If you are interested in this great, local cause, please contact Sr. Elena at elena.almendarez@laroche.edu or sign up in her office.

Horses as Healers: Therapeutic Riding for the Handicapped of Western Pennsylvania, Inc., is looking for volunteers to become "sidewalkers" and accompany children along the side of the very gentle horses they are riding. Sidewalkers are given an orientation and always work in pairs with the horses that have been trained to suit the needs of the program, allowing handicapped children to ride and providing various benefits to the body, mind, and spirit of the rider. Each riding session last 45 minutes; a physical therapist assists the instructor and the volunteers. Riders range in age from 2 – young adult. This organization relies heavily on volunteers since it is one of the few organizations of its kind in the country to provide therapeutic riding free of charge to the families of the riders. Please consider volunteering with this great organization. No experience with horses or riding is needed! For more information, contact Kay McCourt at X 1001 or kay.mccourt@laroche.edu.

On-going: We are collecting Bibles in a bin outside Magdalen Chapel. If you have a Bible that you are willing to part with, please consider donating it. These are being sent to the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, where there is a shortage of bibles.

On-going: Become a conversation partner. Campus Ministry, in partnership with the ESL Dept., is looking for about 20 individuals from among students, staff, and faculty, to become conversations partners with an ESL student. ESL students vary in their English ability and are looking for partners willing to spend about an hour a week in conversation, so students may practice their English. Sign up on Sr. Elena’s office door in Bold I.

LITURGY SCHEDULE

Our Sunday liturgies at Magdalen Chapel have returned to the regular schedule of the academic year: 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 9:00 p.m. Daily liturgy is offered at 12:10 p.m. in the Chapel.

9:37 CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP

Just a reminder that the Christian Fellowship group, 9:37, will meet each Tuesday evening beginning at 9:37 p.m. in the Ryan Room. Come and join the group for music, prayer, and fellowship as we share part of our faith journey with one another. We have a great spirit as well as delicious food from Panera’s! All are welcome. For more information, contact T.R. Richards at tomrichards@northparkepc.org.

PRAYERS FOR YOU!

The Sisters of Divine Providence are praying for you! Don’t forget that if you have a special prayer intention you want them to pray for, drop a note in the basket located at the information desk in the College Center. The intentions are taken to a chapel at Providence Heights daily by Sr. Rose Michele. If you are feeling alone, remember, you are not.

UNITED NATIONS MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

La Roche College Campus Ministry supports the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and tries to engage in community service and raise awareness of actions related to the goals:

Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Ensure that all boys and girls complete primary school
Promote gender equality and empower women
Reduce by two thirds the mortality rate among children under age five
Reduce by three quarters the ratio of women dying in childbirth
Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and incidence of malaria and other major diseases
Ensure environmental sustainability
Develop a global partnership for development