An Update From the Director of Glenmary's Volunteer Office

February 2008

It seems like we hardly have time to put up our Christmas decorations and we’re already welcoming volunteers for the spring! But before that “madness” starts, I wanted to give you a little recap of the last couple of months at the Farm.

Christmas. The weeks just before Christmas were busy for the Glenmary Farm managers and me as we participated in two programs that serve people in Lewis County who need help during the holidays.

The first program we participated in was Project Merry Christmas, which serves families in need by providing them toys and food vouchers. This year PMC served about 150 families with food vouchers, 200 children with toys and about 100 residents of the local nursing home with gift bags and song. Thanks to everyone who gave time, talent, and toys to this project. As always, we collaborated on PMC with the Lewis County Ministerial Association, an ecumenical group of churches that come together to further Christ’s work in Lewis County.

The volunteers who helped with Project Merry Christmas also worked at the second program we participated in at the Lending a Helping Hand Food Pantry. Volunteers packed food boxes and sorted clothing and helped distribute both to over 300 families. As many of you know, a group of concerned citizens started this pantry in nearby Tollesboro, Ky., in response to a need they saw in the community. We work with members of a Methodist church, local volunteers, and George and Sue Calvert who run the pantry.

We appreciated the help we received from volunteers from Loyola University of Chicago, Morehead State University, University of Cincinnati, former Farm managers Collin Smith, Valerie McDaniel, Laura Zant and Jill Collet and Glenmary donors and employees.

Glenmary Farm is on Facebook. Yes, the Farm moved into the 21st century with our purchase of a digital camera, AND a presence on Facebook.

I am not very Facebook savvy, but I hope the page will allow you to share your thoughts and stories about the Glenmary Farm. I’ll post Farm pictures on the page and I plan to pose questions about your Glenmary Farm experience. I hope you’ll become a “fan” of the page so you can share your thoughts and concerns about the Farm.

I’ve also created a Glenmary Farm group page on Facebook where you can share your stories and your pictures with other Glenmary Farm volunteer alums.

Finally, if you would like to make a donation to Glenmary to help with the operation and upkeep of the Glenmary Farm, you can do that on Facebook, too. We get 50 percent of our funding from the groups that come and serve with us at the Glenmary Farm; the remainder comes from donors like you.

Gina leaves her place to move to a better-heated, cleaner place. If you’ve visited the Glenmary Farm in the last six months, you might have had an opportunity to work at Gina’s house. In helping this lady, we’ve moved wood, cleaned her yard and house, and helped her with shopping and laundry. In the middle of January, Gina was able to move out of the unsafe house where she had been living to a much better, cleaner place south of Lewis County. Thanks to all of you that helped Gina; you were part of the bridge that allowed her to move on to a safer, cleaner home.

Remember, if you change your email address, please let us know so that we can keep you up-to-date on all the Farm news!

Peace,
Joe Grosek
Glenmary Volunteer Director
jgrosek@glenmary.org

And if you missed previous Vanceburg Views, check them out.

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