Young Missionaries Across the Country Join Local Effort to Feed Santa Barbara’s Homeless

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) — Young missionaries from across the country are joining local volunteers to help provide weekend food for people experiencing homelessness in Santa Barbara.

The Father Virgil Cordano Center has launched what organizers describe as Santa Barbara’s first weekend takeaway food bag program for people experiencing homelessness.

Volunteers pack the bags each Friday, giving people food to take with them for the weekend.

Sister Maria Hoa organized the program and secured funding to keep it running for a year. She also worked directly with people at the Cordano Center to learn what foods they actually want and would use.

The volunteer effort is also bringing together people from different faith communities.

Young missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are working alongside members of the Ladies of Charity, a Catholic charitable organization with roots dating back more than 400 years.

The Ladies of Charity began in France in 1617 through St. Vincent de Paul and is dedicated to directly serving people in need. The Santa Barbara chapter has been active since the 1970s.

Missionaries helping locally include Elder Henderson and Elder Barker from the Goleta Ward, along with Sister Allred and Sister Weaver from the Los Olivos Branch. The young missionaries come from outside the area and are currently serving in the Santa Barbara region.

Volunteers are being connected through JustServe, a free platform that matches people with service projects in their communities. The platform is now active in Santa Barbara, allowing people to enter their ZIP code and find nearby volunteer opportunities.

Since its introduction in 2012, more than one million volunteers have signed up through JustServe and more than 184,000 projects have been posted. The platform is available in 17 countries and six languages.

Organizers hope projects like the Cordano Center food program can meet an immediate need while also bringing people from different backgrounds together through service.

To find out about how you can volunteer for this and other projects, visit JUSTSERVE (justserve.org) a free online platform harnessing the power of volunteerism to build unity in the community.

The Latest Breaking News, Weather Alerts, Sports and More Anytime On Our Mobile Apps. Keep Up With the Latest Articles by Signing Up for the News Channel 3-12 Newsletter.