Thanksgiving Loaves and Fishes Program

Any Safe-Environment-certified adult 18 and up.

The youngest age allowed out in the serving locations is 13 years old, due to cooking on stoves, knives, crowding, unique clientele, and more.

Families with children may also volunteer with Safe-Environment-certified parents.

You would serve alongside a generous, faith-filled group of volunteers who each year provides a warm meal to the homeless, poor, and people in crisis on Thanksgiving Day.

You would help collect food and financial donations, and distribute and serve the food to our brothers and sisters at Resurrection Catholic Church, homeless shelters, and halfway houses.

Serve on Leadership Team

• Volunteer to “Chair” the Thanksgiving program, with the support of the staff program liaison and a team of volunteers.
• Call past locations of Thanksgiving program to identify need in current year.
• Promote need for food and financial donations to coordinate Thanksgiving Program for the Needy.
• Update food inventory Excel spreadsheet(s) and Signup Genius food collection signup form
• Coordinate the logistics of non-perishable food donations before event: collecting, storing, distributing
• Recruit and organize volunteers for Thanksgiving Day Dinner Program
• Call potential food and financial donors when needed.
• Recruit volunteers for church and off-site volunteer work.
• Organize data tracking system of food donations for program calculations.
• Volunteer during the day, on Sundays after Masses, weeks before the event, and temporarily store food in the Mercy Center.
• Along with POP staff, organize and facilitate the pre-event meeting of church volunteers one week before Thanksgiving.

Donate Food

Donate non-perishable canned, boxed, and packaged foods, as well as roasted, sliced turkeys, stuffing, gravy, and fresh bread and pies (store baked and packaged), using the form below.

Volunteer on Thanksgiving Day

Two ways to serve on Thanksgiving Day:

Serving in the Morning at Prince of Peace: You would will help collect food and other dinner items from incoming cars, repackage foods inside the Mercy Center for a drop-off only location; to several small homes at one shelter, transfer food to refrigerators to safely store until loading time, and help fellow parishioners pack food into vehicles delivering food to various locations. You may also drive all the food to your assigned location.

1. On the Prince of Peace Campus Thanksgiving Morning:
   • Welcome and check-in volunteers.
   • Assemble boxes in the Mercy Center.
   • Receive incoming food donations from car lines.
   • Sort and pack food into boxes.
   • Help with traffic control.
   • “Run” boxes of food to delivery vehicles.
   • Load delivery vehicles.
   • Donate use of truck/SUV and deliver food to a homeless shelter or Resurrection Catholic Church.
2. Off-Site at Resurrection Catholic Church or Homeless Shelters, such as Isaiah, Providence and Kolbe Halfway Houses, Casa Juan Diego, Magnificat Houses and Covenant House

Leadership Team begins work a few months prior to Thanksgiving.

Other volunteers will serve Thanksgiving Day either at Prince of Peace or at offsite at one of the following locations:

• Resurrection Catholic Church
• Isaiah House
• Providence House
• Kolbe Halfway House
• Casa Juan Diego (Men’s & Women’s shelters)
• Magnificat Houses
• Covenant House

Because you help ensure that individuals and families in need experience the joy and warmth of the holiday season by providing them with nourishing meals and a sense of community and care.

If you are 18 years old and above, our archdiocese requires all adult volunteers to complete safe environment training.

This short one-hour online training teaches people how to create a secure and protected environment for everyone, especially children, by recognizing and preventing potential risks or harm.

Click here to register for Safe Environment Training.