For Individual Volunteers, NOT Groups
Prepare and Share Traditional St. Patrick's Day Meal with Lonely, Formerly Homeless Elders
WHEN
- Saturday 3/16/2024, 9:30-2:30
-
Sign up by 3/13/2024
WHAT
Donate $12 or more to help us purchase the $350 groceries needed.
There is a financial hardship option in the registration process, so please do not let an inability to donate deter you from signing up to help.
WHERE
Boston's South End
Note: PMD only shares specific directions, maps, and other details with registered volunteers since we cannot accommodate any walk-ins, i.e., unregistered volunteers simply showing up.WHY
Since 1997, PMD volunteers have been making and sharing home-style meals with isolated, frail, formerly homeless elders now permanently housed by Hearth, purchasing all of the groceries and organizing and staffing every aspect. During the pandemic, PMD volunteers switched to homemade cards and treats for our elderly friends. Now it is safe enough for us to return to our popular, in-person holiday meals, including socializing that volunteers and elders alike enjoy.
HEARTH advocates on behalf of homeless elders, reaching out to, identifying, and assisting homeless elders in Boston, providing housing and services for this often neglected, vulnerable population.
Volunteer labor and donations for the groceries make this project possible.
Regardless of whether one volunteers on 3/16, anyone can help underwrite the cost of groceries by donating using any method listed at http://www.pmd.org/donate.phtml - Please remember to designate your gift for "St. Patrick's Day"
HOW
Volunteers age 18 and older must also authorize a criminal history record by (1) completing PMD's official authorization form AND (2) providing a high-res image/scan of current, government-issued photo ID to PMD by 3/10.
PMD canNOT accept any UNregistered, walk-in volunteers.
If this popular project reaches maximum capacity, then interested volunteers can join the backup list, since we anticipate (and promote) cancellations in case of illness and covid-19 exposures.
For volunteers ages 14-17, a parent/guardian must also co-sign printouts of both PMD's waiver/release and PMD's Health Reporting Form.
Call PMD if you cannot register online using qualtrics.
CALL THE PMD OFFICE at
After you register successfully, you will see a confirmation screen and receive a confirmation email message, so be sure to save the date and times on your calendars AND add [email protected] to your address/white/allow list.
Then a few days before this project PMD will email specific details in a PDF, including directions to the project site by public transit and by car*, what to wear/expect, checklist, map, and release form for minors that a parent/guardian must co-sign and provide at at check-in on 3/16 -- Volunteers age 18+ provide their consent when registering online, to minimize paperwork.
*We discourage folks from driving since it is difficult to find affordable, legal parking closer than public transit.
There is virtually no visitor parking available.
Expensive, garage parking at the hospital, or private, spothero-like parking may be available but cannot be guaranteed or subsidized.
WHO
This project requires being in excellent health (and living with others who are also).There is only space for 14 volunteers, so complete registrations will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis. (As always, only individuals may sign themselves up to participate, except that parents can sign up their children ages 14-15.)
This is a physically demanding, fast-paced volunteer opportunity until we sit down and eat/visit with the elders.
Volunteers must be age 14 or older since this is a fast-paced project inappropriate for younger volunteers since we will be working in a commercial kitchen.
Cooking experience is not required, but volunteers must be able to to prepare and cook ingredients, as well as to clean up, while standing most of the time in the warm kitchen and dining room. Like for all PMD projects, participation for the entire project span is required.
This is a fragrance-free event, meaning that participants must not wear perfume or cologne, or scented skin, hair, facial, or clothing/laundry products.
For 31+ years, public charity People Making a Difference (PMD) has promoted informed and responsible volunteerism by involving people in tangible work that meets local needs and by assisting companies in building successful community involvement programs that:
- Produce appreciable results while conserving recipients' limited resources.
- Educate volunteers about broader issues.
- Bring people together to make a difference.
"...by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great because everybody can serve.... You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love, and you can be that servant."
Excerpt from "The Drum Major Instinct" speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.