Nearly three dozen members of the Women’s Giving Circle spent the morning of April 7 volunteering at the Bishop William M. Cosgrove Center in downtown Cleveland for the group’s first day of service. The Giving Circle, now in its second year, seeks to invite, inform and involve women of faith in the charitable, educational and spiritual work of the Church in Northeast Ohio. This is done by raising awareness and funds to support organizations serving the communities, while engaging in fellowship and making a difference.
The event was in conjunction with the diocesanwide Day of Service, which was part of the Eucharistic Revival Year of Mission and in response to Bishop Edward Malesic’s first pastoral letter that encouraged the faithful to participate in a day of service on (or near) April 5.
The Cosgrove Center, a ministry of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Cleveland, is one of the largest drop-in centers in Greater Cleveland. Among the services offered at the center are two weekday meals (breakfast and lunch), holiday meals, showers, emergency financial assistance, a food pantry and clothing closet.
Women’s Giving Circle volunteers spent the morning sorting donated clothing and shoes in the clothing closet on the second floor of the building at East 18th Street and Superior Avenue (the former Erieview High School), while on the first floor, additional volunteers worked to organize the food pantry, packed lunches and prepared hygiene bags for men.
(See photo gallery above.)
“We prepared almost 800 brown-bag lunches,” said Mary Lou Ozimek, assistant executive director of the Catholic Community Foundation and coordinator of the Women’s Giving Circle, which falls under the foundation umbrella. Some of the volunteers made turkey and cheese sandwiches while others formed an assembly line to pack large brown bags with the sandwiches, chips and a cup of applesauce. The lunches were stored in the Cosgrove Center’s large cooler until they were served to clients.
“The women brought donations for the Cosgrove Center and brought items for the hygiene bags,” she said. “Some women who weren’t able to participate in the service day made donations of cash or items for the men’s hygiene bags that volunteers assembled.”
Women moved from table to table filling the bags with lip balm, AA batteries, body wipes, sanitizing wipes, hand sanitizer, a tooth care kit, trail mix, deodorant, a small bar of soap, Vaseline, tissues, a small bottle of water, a shaving kit, socks and underwear. The bags were labeled by the size of underwear, ranging from small to XX large. Each bag also contained a tag reminding the men who received them that they are important and someone is praying for them. One volunteer placed her hands on each bag she completed and offered a prayer for its future recipient.
“We completed about 300 hygiene bags,” said Jackie Brauser, parish services manager for the foundation, who helped facilitate the service day.
Terell Valentine, Cosgrove Center program coordinator, said clients who receive the lunches and hygiene bags are grateful. She said the Cosgrove Center staff is thankful to the dozens of volunteers who help at the center on a daily basis.
“It’s all about respect here,” she said. “We treat everyone with kindness, dignity and respect. We feed them and let them clean up. It’s hard work, but it’s heart work, just like the heart on the Catholic Charities logo. God is in this place. He has his hands on us,” Valentine said.
It takes a village to keep the Cosgrove Center humming along, Valentine said. And that village extends beyond the Cleveland borders into parishes throughout the diocese. Some prepare peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bring them to the center for distribution while others volunteer to help prepare and serve meals, to clean up and other tasks as needed. Cosgrove Center also benefits during the growing season by receiving regular shipments of homegrown produce from men at the Grafton Correctional Institution, who plant a large garden every year and donate the produce to Catholic Charities ministries.
“Catholic Charities is a place of redemption,” Valentine added.
More information about the Women’s Giving Circle is available here. Click here to learn more about Catholic Charities and the Cosgrove Center.