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Service Ministry

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St. Augustine's Service MINISTRY

We are called to be the Real Presence of Jesus among our brothers and sisters. The service ministry coordinates the activities of student and non-student parishioners to be the hands and heart of Jesus in our parish, community, and throughout the world through various volunteer opportunities.

There are ongoing recurring volunteer opportunities and special events in which St. Augustine Church is directly involved and there are other service organizations to which we will provide opportunities for participation. Most of these opportunities have been suspended because of COVID-19.

Catholic Relief Services Helping Hands
Burkina Faso Food Packaging Is Back - April 10, 2021

Last year we collected funds and planned to package 20,000 rice and bean meals for our starving brothers and sisters in Burkina Faso. However, COVID-19 got in the way. With increasing vaccinations and the ability to appropriately social distance with updated facilities, we are holding our postponed event on Saturday, April 10, 2021 in Hurley Hall. The small room arrangement will enable groups who can work together in close quarters to do so, and the large central room will enable social distancing for other volunteers.We will break the event to a morning shift (10:00-12:00) and afternoon shift (1:00-3:00).
To be able to plan social distancing and safety, everyone who plans to volunteer must sign up ahead of time. Please complete and submit this sign-up form as soon as possible. Contact Paul Gulig at service@catholicgators.org with questions or comments.
The maximum number of form submissions has been reached. This form is currently not available.
- To help us plan the Catholic Relief Services Helping Hands food packaging event on Saturday, April 10, please complete this survey. Note that everyone participating will be required to wear a mask, and we will use social distancing as much as necessary and possible. The event will be held in the Hurley student center. We plan to have two sessions with about 50 people working each session. Volunteers will be spread out among five small rooms and one very large room. The small rooms will have people working closely, but the large room offers the possibility of people working 6 feet apart. Your response to this survey will help us determine these needs.
  
  1A. For Groups of People Willing to Work Closely with Each Other: If you have a set of 2 to 4 contacts counting yourself, e.g., family, friends, housemates, roommates, with whom you associate regularly without social distancing or wearing masks and with whom you would feel comfortable working closely for two hours while wearing a mask, please ask if they would like to work together at this event. After you have agreed to work as a group, please provide the group's contact information here. Please sign up once for the whole group.
- Group Member 1
  
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- Group Member 2
  
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- Group Member 3
  
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- Group Member 4
  
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- 1B. For individual volunteers: If you do not have other people with whom you would feel comfortable working closely while wearing a mask, please check one of these statements.
- Individual Preference I will only participate if I am socially distanced (i.e., 6 feet) from others wearing masks. I am willing to work with one or two other people not socially distanced but wearing masks.
- Individual volunteer
  
  First Name Please enter valid data.
  
  Last Name Please enter valid data.
  
  Email Please enter an email address.
  
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- 2. For all volunteers: What is your preference for working at the morning or afternoon session?
- Session Preference REQUIRED Morning (10:00-12:00) Afternoon (1:00-3:00) No preference Please fill out this field.
- Thanks for your help. We will contact you soon with additional details.
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CONTINUOUS Service Opportunities

Liturgical Ministers - The parish is in need of service in liturgical ministers (Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, Lectors, Choir members, Altar Servers, Hospitality Ministers, and Altar Guild). Please check out our liturgical ministry page for more information. There is a need for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion to take communion to patients at Shands Hospital.

Grace Marketplace - This service has been halted until further notice. Every Monday afternoon from 5:15-6:30 p.m. we serve meals for the homeless at Grace Marketplace. Please contact Paul Gulig (service@catholicgators.org) for information or to volunteer.

St. Francis House - The last Saturday of every month, we provide dinner at St. Francis House, which provides temporary housing for homeless families with children. There are about 30 people, and we need 4 to 5 volunteers total to serve. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, we cannot serve in person. Instead, we purchase and have pizze delievered, and we provide drinks, salad, and dessert. Only store-bought (i.e., no homemade food) is accepted.

Email service@catholicgators.org with questions or to volunteer. We could also use funds to help pay for the food. There is a special collection option for St. Francis House on the "Donate" page.

Tacachale Developmental Disability Center - On hold. The Catholic Gators have grown a close relationship with Tacachale. We have regular game nights and special events with them.

New Opportunities under development:
Friends Across the Ages - This group organized by Steve and Allyson Blay ministers to people in local nursing homes. Volunteers can take part in group activities or get trained to meet with an individual weekly for one hour for an extended time (at least 12 weeks). Please see their web page: http://www.acrosstheages.org/

Death Penalty Ministry - Pope Francis has declared that the death penalty is inadmissable in today's society. The Catholic Church's teaching affirms the sanctity of human life from coneption to natural death. A respect for life is incompatible with the death penalty. Catholics in our area can bring change by attending prayer vigils when executions occur, writing inmates on death row, or visiting inmates on death row.

In our Profiles of Community Agencies you can browse possibilities for ongoing volunteer opportunities in our community. Each profile tells you something about the purpose of the organization and the population it serves, type of volunteer work, requirements for volunteers, and contact information.
Get involved

Join the service committee. Committee members attend meetings to develop the service program and to plan and participate in service projects. Note that although the service committee members should be motivated to do service, our main goal is to lead the St. Augustine community into service. Email service@catholicgators.org.

Join our Go-To Team.
We are building a list of parishioners who want to receive occasional information about special or urgent service opportunities. See the sign-up form for details. You can help out and not have to go to meetings!

Follow us!
Watch for information about volunteer opportunities in the church bulletin, the parish events calendar on this site's homepage, pulpit announcements, Facebook, and here on the service ministry webpage.
Recent Service Projects

Migrant Worker Angel Tree - During Advent, we had the Christmas Tree Angel Project to benefit migrant workers via Christ the Good Shepherd Mission in Trenton. Please take an angel, buy the gift, and drop it off at St. A's by the deadline.

Thanksgiving meal packing. St. Augustine Church has partnered with the University Athletic Association including student athletes to package several hundred Thanksgiving meals to be distributed by Catholic Charities.

Oak Hammock Retirement Center "Senior Prom Dance" - Our parish has a special connection with Oak Hammock because our priests regularly have mass there. In March 2019 we hosted a dance for the residents.