The New Wine Press vol 25 no 10 June 2017 | Page 13

Precious Blood Volunteers
Renewed Life in Volunteers Program
by Tim Deveney, Precious Blood Volunteers Director
As our early application deadline rolled around in
mid-March I was feeling nervous, but slightly hopeful.
The work that was put in to recruit people to serve as
Precious Blood Volunteers would soon be put to the
test. The test being that we actually have applicants.
Based on past experience I knew that we needed ten
applicants to meet our goals of having at least four
volunteers serving here in Kansas City. I also had some
hope we would have enough interest in the program
that we could reopen our placement in Chicago at
Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation (pbmr).
The slight feelings of hope were soon replaced with
cautious optimism that was brought on by us receiv-
ing twelve applications. After we moved through the
initial and second rounds of interviews the cautious
optimism has been replaced with excitement! We have
five volunteers committed to serving with us for the
2017-2018 volunteer cycle and an additional two who
are still waiting on acceptance from their placement
sites. Three of the fully committed volunteers have
pledged to serve for a full year and the other two have
committed to serve for at least six months.
Since we have a high quality and large group of
volunteers we have been able to fill our slots in Kansas
City and reopen our placement at pbmr in Chicago.
Two of the volunteers, and possibly a third, will be
serving at pbmr. The other three, and possibly four
in total, will be serving in Kansas City. The Kansas
City based volunteers will be living at Gaspar Mission
House and serving at kc care Clinic, Cristo Rey
Kansas City High School, and St. James Place (part of
the Bishop Sullivan Center).
In Chicago, our volunteers will live at two separate
houses. Among our Chicago volunteers there is one
young woman and a young man. The female volunteer
in Chicago will be living with the Dayton Precious
Blood sisters, as will the third Chicago volunteer when
and if she commits to us, while the male volunteer
will be living with incorporated members of both the
Kansas City and Cincinnati Provinces at the forma-
tion house in Hyde Park. Both of these volunteers
will be working at pbmr where there is a good mix of
Cincinnati Province incorporated members, Dayton
Sisters, and lay staff. This is an opportunity for greater
cooperation between the two provinces and with one
of the Precious Blood women’s communities.
Precious Blood Volunteers is a formation program.
We are helping to shape the lives of our volunteers
through community living and service, so that they
will be people of deep faith that seek reconciliation
in their communities and in the world. The program
brings youth, enthusiasm, and different perspectives
to the Precious Blood community. It is a program with
benefits for the volunteers, the Precious Blood com-
munity, and to the agencies and people they serve.
As with any mutually beneficial relationship, the
Precious Blood community has given our volunteers
a great deal of love and support. I am grateful for the
support the community gives the volunteer program.
Our volunteers have been sponsored financially by the
Kansas City Province and welcomed through the hos-
pitality of incorporated members of the Kansas City
Province, the Adorers, and the Dayton Precious Blood
sisters. Companions have extended this hospitality by
welcoming the volunteers to their meetings and engag-
ing with our volunteers in less formal settings.
The help of incorporated members and Companions
is needed even more this year in supporting our vol-
unteers. As the July Orientation comes closer I will be
working with Companions and incorporated members
to see how the Precious Blood community can more
formally engage with the volunteers. I am happy to lis-
ten to any ideas the members of our community have
in how to make this work the best. In the meantime
you are welcome to be a part of their lives by invit-
ing them for a meal at your home, bringing them care
packages, or sending them notes of encouragement. As
always I ask for your continued prayers for our volun-
teers and the people they will be serving.
I am looking forward to this coming year and the
opportunities it presents for our community, for our
volunteers, and for the people they serve. W
June 2017 • The New Wine Press • 11