PRINTABLE FORM
for tracking your own hours
Candidates are expected to complete and document at least 5 hours of Christian service. (Due to changes during the pandemic, this is reduced from previous requirements for 10 hours.) Forms may be turned in earlier at any Confirmation Prep session, but they are due in mid-January 2024 (full schedule for your Track has details).
Christian service fits into two categories:
- Direct service to persons in need, based on the Corporal Works of Mercy (feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, helping the homeless and the poor)
- Indirect service to benefit the people of God or all of creation through the Church, schools and other community groups (setting up for parish events, tutoring, office work, cooking, cleaning, caring for the environment or animals)
Our Candidates for Confirmation are encouraged to do as much direct service as possible as part of those 5 hours. Direct service transforms us as we look upon the faces of our brothers and sisters in need. Ask: Who am I serving today? “Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.” — Saint (Mother) Teresa of Calcutta
Group outings for performing service (such as to a Soup Kitchen, Food Pantry, or Feed My Starving Children) can be organized by catechists and/or by groups of parents. Parents/guardians can also sign off on service performed if a representative of the organization or person helped is not able to do so. Blank forms will be given at the first in-person class.
SUGGESTED EVENTS AND ORGANIZATIONS
Soup Kitchen & Sack Meal Program at St. Mary of the Lake and Our Lady of Lourdes Parish (4220 N. Sheridan) – Contactless soup kitchen serving soup each Wednesday at 6 p.m. Each week they need 5-7 volunteers to donate ingredients and make 5 sack lunches for clients to take with them. Packed lunches should be dropped off at their parish office at Buena & Sheridan between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday. See details and contact Darlene Kelly at dkelly@saintmarys.org to sign up to make sack lunches. (There is also a SignUpGenius for 4 hospitality volunteers each week 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. to serve the hot soup, but this is normally for adult volunteers 18+ only. It looks like youth are able to sign up if chaperoned by a parent/guardian.) This is now a ministry of St. Mary of the Lake and Our Lady of Lourdes Parish that serves 350+ individual meals per month.
Ronald McDonald House – snack bags for residents, made alone or in small groups
Lakeview Pantry still accepts volunteers under 18! Please read the youth guidelines, sign the youth waiver, register the family, and attend an online orientation session. (Orientation time can also be counted as part of youth service.)
Ravenswood Community Services – youth under 17 may serve accompanied by an adult at Weekend Pantry events.
Society of St. Vincent de Paul – parish organization serving 70+ local clients in need and their families. Youth may volunteer but must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and must wear a mask at all times. Youth will need the annual permission form for St. Vincent de Paul events:
- Thanksgiving Food Drive Sorting & Packing – 7 p.m. Friday, November 17, 2023, indoors at Queen of Angels Church basement, 2330 W. Sunnyside Ave. Sort donated food and household items so that each client family can shop for them the next day.
- Thanksgiving Food Drive Distribution – 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, November 18, 2023, indoors at Queen of Angels Church basement, 2330 W. Sunnyside Ave. It is most helpful to stay for the whole time to help client families choose their food at timed appointments, or to sign up for only half the time.
Commons (parent-school-parish organization of Queen of Angels School)
- Harvest Jam – fall family festival scheduled for Saturday, September 23, 2023 in our parking lot at Western & Sunnyside. Details & volunteer opportunities TBA. Youth usually help supervise games and activities for younger children.
- Children’s Resale Shop – green resale event Saturday, October 14, 2023 with donation drop-off times and sorting October 11-13. Youth may sort items and assist customers, especially if youth helpers are bilingual in English and Spanish.
- Breakfast with Santa – fun event for children on Saturday, December 2, 2023. Youth usually help supervise games and activities for younger children or replenish buffet items from the kitchen. Please note that the event is the same day as the Catholic H.S. entrance exam, so this is mainly an opportunity for the few Track A students already in high school.
“Lupus Spoons” Support Group – 2023 Chicago Walk to End Lupus Now at the Lincoln Park Lagoon on Saturday, September 23, 2023, registration begins at 9 a.m., walk steps off at 10 a.m, event ends at 11:30 a.m. $25 basic registration
Great Lakes Alliance – beach clean-ups
Greater Chicago Food Depository – limited # of students as volunteers, with adult chaperones
Church Decorating Committee, serving at Queen of Angels Church, 2330 W. Sunnyside, contact Mr. Bob Hess at r.hess112@sbcglobal.net.
- mid-Advent decorating (Trees & Nativity Scene set-up), likely Sunday, December 10, 2023
- late Advent decorating for Christmas (poinsettia flowers & Christmas decor), during the week of December 18-23, 2023
- after Christmas undecorating (remove and store trees, Nativity scene & all decorations), likely Sunday, January 7, 2023 or during that week
Great Schools Uganda – write letters of support and friendship to students in Uganda
Upparent – places to volunteer & at-home opportunities
The Honeycomb Project, “putting kids at the forefront of social change”
– gathered, socially-distant events to pack food boxes or make craft kits
– sign up to cook a dish at home (potluck-style) and drop off to programs serving the homeless
– Honeycomb at Home – virtual lessons and projects to do with your family at home
Resources for Military & Support Personnel – making cards & sending to the chosen charity
– greeting cards
– care packages
Cards for Hospitalized Kids
– FAQs
– how to make the cards (options for holiday or general cards)
HQ is at 7290 W. Devon Ave., 60631. You may be able to drop off cards there, but contact them directly
Project Linus – making blankets
– FAQs
– easy no-sew pattern for 2-layer fleece blankets
– drop-off in Western suburbs
– drop-off in Northern suburbs
In your neighborhood, you can also reach out to
- families who can’t afford babysitting, and help watch younger children while parents run errands
- your elderly neighbors, to perform outdoor tasks such as gardening, leaf-raking, snow-shoveling. Or count time baking treats and making cards for them.
Already past events:
- School Supplies Sorting & Packing –
- 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, August 11, 2023, indoors at Queen of Angels Church basement, 2330 W. Sunnyside Ave. Open boxes of bulk school supplies to be chosen by the children and youth from client families who will receive backpacks & supplies.
- 7:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Saturday, August 12, 2023, indoors at Queen of Angels Church basement, 2330 W. Sunnyside Ave. Assist client families who will receive backpacks & supplies, and then clean up.
With thanks to Lisa Michalak, Liz Wannemacher, Jane Bishop Lillegard and Megan Fallen Duffy for their help in compiling these resources!
What DOESN’T count as service for Confirmation Prep?
- 8th Grade Class fundraising, labor in a family business, or other efforts directing money to a small group of which you are a member
- Work for which you have been paid (babysitting or lawnmowing jobs, regular employment)
- Chores around the house (babysitting own siblings, washing the dishes, shoveling your walkways making your own bed) which are your ordinary responsibility as a member of the household
- Volunteering during Sunday Mass (altar server or choir member) or charity/buddy projects with your class during the school day since you would participate in the activity anyway