Catholic Charities Recognizes Volunteers Across Arlington Diocese

ARLINGTON, VA — More than 2,500 volunteers helped the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington deliver meals and provide assistance to residents across Northern Virginia in 2020.

In April, the diocese is recognizing the contributions of its volunteers, 1,148 of whom were new, who donated their time during the pandemic. April is National Volunteer Month.

The combined contribution of the volunteers totaled more than 59,880 hours of service allowing the organization to provide nearly $4 million in food, rent and utility assistance through 84,000 client visits from March to December 2020.

“These dedicated volunteers fill critical roles throughout our agency. In spite of the pandemic, they continued to provide healthcare to the sick, collect and distribute food to the hungry, welcome refugees and migrants to new homes, minister to those in prison, and serve those seeking a better education or job skills,” Stephen Carattini, President and CEO, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington, said Wednesday in a statement.

Catholic Charities has launched #FindYourJoy, a social media campaign to encourage people, particularly young people, to volunteer with one of the Diocese’s various service ministries. As part of the campaign, Catholic Charities is sharing stories of volunteers whose work allowed the organization to feed, house, clothe, educate and mentor people during the pandemic. The stories are being share on its Facebook page.

From March to December 2020, Catholic Charities delivered 1.6 million pounds of food through 82,313 client visits, an increase of 134 percent in clients served from 2019, and $1.2 million in rent and utility assistance to nearly 1,500 households, a 233 percent increase in families served from the previous year.

The Catholic Diocese of Arlington is home to 70 parishes and more than 460,000 Catholics. There are currently 276 priests serving in the Diocese, which includes the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, Manassas Park and Winchester and the counties of Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Frederick, King George, Lancaster, Loudoun, Madison, Northumberland, Orange, Page, Prince William, Rappahannock, Richmond, Shenandoah, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Warren and Westmoreland.

Catholic Charities operates 21 ministries throughout the Diocese.

The public can provide material and financial support by visiting Catholic Charities’ website. Anyone interested in donating food or in need of assistance should go to the website of their local Catholic parish or visit Catholic Charities’ website at ccda.net.