C.A.R.I.T.A.S.

C.A.R.I.T.A.S. 2008
April 26 - May 10
 

Our C.A.R.I.T.A.S. guests will be joining us at Cool Spring from April 26 to May 10.  Contact Kay Anders, 550-0984, if you would like to volunteer.

Pack the Pod!
Embrace Richmond, a charitable organization, provides furniture and other household items to individuals and families as they transition from Richmond area homeless shelters to their home. You can assist these families by donating furniture and household items that our families could use to set up their new homes.

Embrace Richmond has teamed up with Cool Spring for a furniture drive, from April 26-May 7. The drop-off will be located in the back parking lot at Cool Spring. Donations are tax deductible (receipts available at time of donation).

Click Here for More Information About Donating     (.pdf file)


2008 CARITAS Needs:

Jesus desired that the hungry be fed. You can be his hands! Tina Michaels needs individuals, Sunday School classes and small groups to volunteer to provide evening snacks for CARITAS. Contact her to get the details at 746-8858 or wmlmichaeljr@aol.com 
 

C.A.R.I.T.A.S. 2007
April 28 - May 5

If you prepared one of the 156 meals for 9 families, washed clothes, read books, cleaned bathrooms, rocked babies, organized showers, moved furniture, set up rooms, prayed, played games, filled PODS., or sacrificed time and energy to care for our CARITAS families for a week:

Thank you! God bless you for being his hands, feet, mouth, eyes, ears, and heart!
 

C.A.R.I.T.A.S. 2006
April 22 - May 6

C.A.R.I.T.A.S. 2006 Theme:
God doesn’t call the equipped; he equips those who are called.

CARITAS Trivia…
How many lunches will be packed during the two weeks of CARITAS?
Answer – 420!!!!! WOW!!!
 

2006 Daily Schedule:

• Saturday, 4/22 - Cool Spring volunteers and Boy Scouts will set up the guest's rooms.  Parish nurses will to an assessment of guest medications after they arrive.  A fire drill is scheduled with a fire truck on display.

• Sunday, 4/23 - Guests will attend Richmond area churches or the CARITAS non-denominational service.  Pray that our guests will experience God on this day of worship.

• Monday, 4/24 - Jill Baughan will have her first 1/2 hour session of "Chillin with Jill".  This 1/2 hour will give our guests an opportunity to discuss the day and unwind a bit in a devotional setting.  This is the first night that the children will be read to by our volunteers.  The Boy Scouts will be having activities with the CARITAS children in the gym.  What takes place is very dependant on the number and ages of the children.

• Tuesday, 4/25 - Our choir will have a "Sing-A-Long" at the dinner hour. Pray our guests will be receptive.

• Wednesday, 4/26 - No activities are planned.  Take this day to ask God to be with and bless all the volunteers that are on the cleaning crews.

• Thursday, 4/27 - Each family will have an opportunity to have a family portrait taken.

• Friday, 4/28 - Friday is Family Movie Night!

• Saturday, 4/29 - The game room has been reserved for our CARITAS guests.  Pray for the volunteers that have been doing laundry for our guests each day.

• Sunday, 4/20 - CARITAS will not allow our guests to attend our worship services, but they are required to attend a non-denominational service sponsored by CARITAS or they are provided transportation to their own church.

• Monday, 5/1 - God will smile down on this one - horse rides and picture taking!  Spend some time talking with God about all the volunteers handling the food services for CARITAS.

• Tuesday, 5/2 - The youth are in charge of cooking dinner for our guests.  Every night we have volunteers that spend the night.

• Wednesday, 5/3 - Our regular Wednesday night activities will be taking place.  Many in a different location.  Let's pray everything goes smoothly!  Every day volunteers have been at the church praying for and with our guests.

• Thursday, 5/4 - This is the last night of the "Reading Time" with the children.  They will have an opportunity to select favorite books to take with them as they begin to think about leaving soon!

• Friday, 5/5 - This final evening will be spent viewing a video that has been made of all the activities that have taken place during the 2 weeks of CARITAS.  The guests love it, especially the children!  This is an emotional evening for both guests and volunteers!

2005 C.A.R.I.T.A.S. Report
April 16 - 29, 2005

# Guests: 27    #Families served: 12
# Children: 15 (youngest: 12 months, oldest: 17 years)
# CARITAS organization staff: 9
# Expectant moms: 6
# Volunteers: 325
# Volunteer hours: 2326.60
Professions of Faith: 1
Countless hours of prayers for staff, volunteers,
guests in groups and one-to-one.

For two weeks, volunteers provided:
Haircuts, massages, manicures, videos, crafts, daily showers, laundry services, breakfast, bag lunches, dinner, all day Saturday activities,  clown shows, cookouts, Parish Nurses, personal items, Rec Center activities, and 20 prepaid phone cards were sent to CARITAS.
 

See Photos and Volunteer Opportunities
from C.A.R.I.T.A.S. 2005
 

2004 C.A.R.I.T.A.S. Report
March 13 - 20, 2004

In 2004 Cool Spring was blessed to meet the needs of: 11 Families with 20 Children, from months old up to age 11      This year's C.A.R.I.T.A.S. provided many opportunities of service and ministry to our guests.  About 350 volunteers worked over 1500 hours in some form of personal service.  3 guests received Christ as their personal savior during the week, and one family moved into an apartment.      Activities included craft nights, a clown show, and recreation nights with the youth as well as with Boy Scouts.  Parish nurses provided blood pressure checks.  Manicurists pampered the guests while our team of nurturers helped to watch children during the evening.      Breakfast and Evening meals were provided, as well as bag lunches.  Clean showers, soft towels, and a laundry service were provided.  Each family had their own individual room.      Prayer was provided constantly during the week, with three guests accepting Christ as their personal savior. See Photos and Volunteer Opportunities from C.A.R.I.T.A.S. 2004 2003 C.A.R.I.T.A.S. Report In 2003 Cool Spring was blessed to meet the needs of: 26 guests, including: 8 families, 9 adults, 17 children, from 9 months of age to 15 years, and 5 CARITAS staff      This year’s CARITAS week provided Cool Spring opportunities to minister in various ways. Nurses, tax preparers and tutors were available to assist our guests. Our Youth provided a well attended recreation night and devotional time. Spanish speaking interpreters from our church and the IMB helped make our Spanish speaking guests feel at home. Our own clown brought her clown friends and put on quite a show. As always the guests enjoyed craft times and were pampered by our manicurists. We opened our recreation center for various activities and provided clean showers, warm water and soft towels. Our GA and RA groups prepared personal toiletry bags. Twenty-one meals along with evening snacks were prepared. Our team of nurturers helped mothers have an easier time with their children throughout the evening.      Prayer and ministry were a pervasive part of CARITAS. Multiple times during the day and each evening ones were praying and prayer walking. One evening we offered individual personal times of prayer. Bible study, sharing God’s truths, emotional and spiritual encouragement were all part of our ministry. By testimony of our guests, God’s presence was felt. Louis Brothers launched CARITAS 2003 for us and became an integral part of the week. He attended several evenings and has continued to reach out to our guests, sharing God’s love.      We cared for 26 guests and 5 CARITAS staff. There were 8 families, with 9 adults and 17 children ranging from 15 years old to 9 months. Together 334 volunteers, working 1,497+ hours in some type of personal ministry, came together and became the hands of Jesus to these special people for one difficult week in their lives. One mother of two sons wrote in her thank you note, “I was sad when I started at CARITAS last Friday. I didn’t know what to expect. This Friday I’m able to smile. I want to thank God for working through all of you. You have made my road a little less frightening. I love you.” 2002 C.A.R.I.T.A.S. Report April 7 - 13, 2002        During the week of April 7 - 13, 2002 the needs of 37 guests and 6 staff persons were met by members of Cool Spring Baptist Church. More than 200 people signed the activity sheets showing their individual involvement in some sort of hands-on ministry that directly related to the CARITAS week. The time logs indicated that 1188+ hours were spent in preparing and caring for our guests. An additional 145 individual hours were spent in two training sessions and a church wide prayer meeting.      The CARITAS ministry project was successful with only minor (not unexpected) "bumps in the road". The guests felt the presence of the Lord and openly spoke of it. After the guests moved on, we received reports that they frequently talked of their week with CSBC. Members of CSBC continue to share how meaningful this opportunity to minister was to their lives. All feedback received has been very positive. For this we give the Lord thanks!      The CARITAS leadership team had one central focus that directed all planning, decisions and activity. It was: "To rely on God alone through constant prayer." Someone, led by God, shared that quote with the team as they began their work. The quote is from Hudson Taylor.   General Facts About C.A.R.I.T.A.S. CARITAS' Family Focus Program is now a year-round, 24-hour service devoted to the needs of the homeless families.  CARITAS is the only program for the homeless in the community that shelters families with fathers and adolescent males. CARITAS is a massive volunteer effort organized by the faith community.  Between 5,000 and 10,000 volunteers participate in CARITAS every year. CARITAS is a regional response to the emergency needs of homeless people.  Over 120 congregations are involved in CARITAS, representing the City of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, and southern Hanover County. CARITAS serves people with the greatest needs in our community.  Over 95% of our guests have incomes under 30% of the median income in our area.  Despite this poverty, 65% of our guests report receiving no government benefits - not even food stamps. Read More About the Homeless at Homeward Richmond.com Volunteer Opportunities at C.A.R.I.T.A.S. Labor Intensive: Assistance in making cot repairs in the spring. Assistance with occasional loading and unloading of sleeping materials at churches and the CARITAS supply warehouse. Assistance transferring employees in snow using 4-wheel drive vehicles. Emergency assistance with transferring families by van in case of van breakdown. Emergency assistance with transferring sleeping materials in case of truck break down. Assistance in January and May to transfer blankets to cleaners for laundering. Build a ramp from the warehouse to street level for moving sleeping materials. Single Adult On-site Support: Intake assistants at sign-in sites (semester obligation). Help with transferring guests for laundry/showers from congregations by van. Overnight volunteers. Collecting and assembling personal care packets and first aid kits. Sheet/pillowcase/pillow/blanket drives...please call office first to determine need. Family Day Site Support: "Room Mother" volunteers - Plan and lead small group activities, art/craft projects, assist with homework, read or be read to, etc. Book donations. Read-a-long book donations. Educational or high-quality G or PG rated video donations. Cough and cold medications for children/adults. New board games. Family Host Site Support: Preparing personal care packets. Overnight volunteers at other congregations. Collecting school supplies. Office: Computers Scanner To Volunteer:  Call the Family Focus Office at (804) 340-0817.   Making a Donation to C.A.R.I.T.A.S. To make a financial contribution to CARITAS, mail it to: CARITAS P. O. BOX 25790 Richmond, VA  23260-5790 Contact CARITAS at (804) 358-0964. C.A.R.I.T.A.S. Website

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