Catholic Charities

On March 3, 2012 I volunteered for five hours at Catholic Charities in Mattoon, Illinois.  Catholic Charities offers several different services to disadvantaged families.  One of their biggest services is their resale store.  Catholic Charities sells clothing of all sizes, books, household furnishings, and almost anything you can possibly think of.  They encourage individuals of all income levels to take advantage of the low prices they have.  Low income families have the option of applying for free items from their store.  If approved, they are given a voucher for certain items for each family member.  For example, a family with a three year old boy may be able to pick out 2 outfits, 1 pair of shoes, 1 blanket, 2 books, and 1 toy for him.  Catholic Charities also gives out food items to needy families when they have it available.

This activity helped me better understand a number of concepts that have been discussed throughout the semester in FCS 4840.  At Catholic Charities, I saw first hand just how diverse disadvantaged families in our area are.  There were individuals of different cultural backgrounds, income levels, and education.  Some individuals were very friendly, while others seemed distracted or just wanted to keep to themselves.  Most of the time I spent volunteering in the warehouse, which is located in the same building as the store.  I saw examples of how others might view disadvantaged people.  Such as:  Why would someone donate their old, stained, stretched out underwear that has holes in the crotch?!  I spent most of my time with a number of other volunteers sorting through donations.  I got to know some other great people who are pursuing different degrees at EIU.  I also got to know the store manager at Catholic Charities, Rosie.  Rosie was very kind and even gave me a hug when I left.  From this experience, I gained a new level of appreciation for all the people behind the scenes at places like Catholic Charities.  I also now feel very comfortable with Rosie and other employees at Catholic Charities.  I plan to return and volunteer more after this semester is over.  

Catholic Charities positively affects the surrounding community in several ways.  Many individuals are helped by the free food and other items that Catholic Charities gives out each year.  I think even more people are helped just by shopping at Catholic Charities and getting affordable books, clothing, and other items.  Almost everyone has periods when their money is tight.  Sometimes when you have children, unexpected thing might happen, such as your child hitting a growth spurt and suddenly none of their jeans fit.  Having a resource available like Catholic Charities can help families get through those rough times, even if they are not very low income.  Catholic Charities also keeps tons of items out of the local landfill by giving residents a place to take items they are no longer using.

I really enjoyed having the opportunity to volunteer at Catholic Charities.  Over the past few years I have really benefited from the good sales that Catholic Charities offers.  I have gotten many nice books and clothing items for my boys at great prices.  It felt good to finally give back a little bit to the store.  Since I often take advantage of the items that the store offers, I was a little disappointed that volunteers are restricted in what they can purchase at the store.  If you volunteer at Catholic Charities you do not even get the same opportunity to purchase items as the general public does.  Volunteers are required to wait to purchase items until they have been for sale for at least one day.  Since it was spring time when I volunteered, Catholic Charities was in the process of eliminating all their warm weather clothing.  As the other volunteers and I were going through the bins of donations we came across many quality winter clothing items.  However, we were required to place all the winter items in large bins that would be sold by the pound to third world countries.  It seemed unfair that people could not even have the option of buying the nice winter items.  I was often surprised by the items that had been donated.  The clothing represented both good and bad extremes.  There were smelly, dirty, and torn items and brand new items that still had the tags attached.  The people who I was working with found a like new pair of Birkenstock sandals.  Overall, this experience was really positive and I look forward to doing more volunteer work.

Anna Scroggins