Menlo Park Presbyterian Church Seeks Volunteers

announced Wednesday that it needs help in multiple cities on the Peninsula during “Compassion Weekend.”

“Compassion Weekend is an easy way for people who want to help others,” said Mark Swarner, who is the church's mission pastor. “We invite everyone —kids, teens and adults — to participate with us.  It only takes a few hours to help make the Bay Area a better place.”

In 2011, Compassion Weekend mobilized 3,500 volunteers who gave more than 12,000 work hours and $350,000 over a span of two days. This year, the church is looking for 5,000 volunteers. They have 1,300 so far.  

“We usually get a rush the last week, so this is right on target,” said Carolyn R. Bennett, communications manager for .  

Volunteers from Menlo Park Presbyterian will be working on projects from San Francisco down to San Jose in conjunction with volunteers from the Open Door Churches of San Mateo and Mountain View. Organizers have outlined 28 projects of various kinds, many of which will be taking place in Menlo Park.
 
, volunteers will be painting, planting, and cleaning on Saturday. During the day, teachers and students will be on site helping and hanging out. 

For more info about this project, contact:
David Foley: david@2ndmile.org

At , groups will be building bookcases with 30 neighborhood families connected to Project Read on Sunday. 

“These are simple book cases in a kit,” Bennett said, “They’re not hard to assemble.”

There will be crafts, story time for kids, and a live musician during lunch time. On site-volunteers will be accepting book donations of literature appropriate for children up to 10 years of age. 

For more info, contact: 
Roberta Roth: rlroth@menlopark.org
Kristi Breisch: breischkristi@gmail.com 
Lauren Meiklejohn: Lauren.Meiklejohn@gmail.com

At , groups will be assembling teacher/student supply kids for the 3,800 students in the . Bennett said it would be an activity appropriate for children ages five and older.

For more info, contact:
Michelle Dillabough: michelle@hsproperties.com

At the , volunteers will be putting together bags of essential personal care items on Sunday that they will distribute to homeless people in Menlo Park, specifically in the downtown area

“This project is a way that families can come together and introduce children to service in our community and witness firsthand the struggles people have,” Bennett said.  The bags will also include personalized notes. 

For more info contact:
Geraldine Mackinnon: gmacimac@gmail.com
Gretchen Packer: gretchen630@hotmail.com

For a complete list of projects on the Peninsula, visit the Compassion Weekend page on the MPPC’s website.

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