Is your Catholic parish, school, institution, organization or ministry in need of volunteers?

Are you, as an individual or a family, looking for a place to volunteer?

The Catholic Post would like to encourage volunteerism in 2017 and perhaps beyond by bringing together organizations that could use some help with persons looking for a place to put their faith into action.

In each issue of the New Year, we will include a short story bearing the title “The Gift of Self.”  It will describe a Catholic organization in a region of the Diocese of Peoria in need of volunteer help, along with contact information.

We invite organizations with volunteer needs to send us an email with “The Gift of Self” in the subject line to cathpost@cdop.org. The first of the features will appear in our Jan. 15, 2017 issue.

Last April, Pope Francis asked Catholic dioceses to set up some kind of permanent memorial to the Year of Mercy, just concluded — a home for the aged, a hospital,  a school where there isn’t one, etc.  We don’t know how permanent “The Gift of Self” will be, but we’d like to launch it as this newspaper’s response to the pope’s invitation.

What gift can we give Baby Jesus? Consider The Gift of Self in 2017. We hope to connect you with a group that will welcome your time and talents.  — Thomas J. Dermody