Service Opportunities

In addition to these recurring opportunities, we often offer other service events throughout the year. Please pay close attention to your email and our Instagram page to learn about upcoming opportunities!

Our parish community here at St. Thomas More also has many, many ministries and groups that young people are welcome and encouraged to volunteer with. Whether you are passionate about art, serving the poor, or combating climate change, there is a service group in our community that could use your help. Check out our complete Ministry Directory to find something that interests you!

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San Isidro Labrador Community Garden at St. Thomas More
Saturday mornings from 9 AM - 12 PM and some weekdaysYouth are invited to help tend our STM community garden with our San Isidro ministry! No gardening experience is necessary, but you must reach out to Bob Weickert at bob_weickert@mindspring.com to determind when you'd like to volunteer. 
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Caring and Sharing Center 
Youth are welcome to assist guests find clothes during regular hours and/or assist on scheduled sorting days after hours. Youth younger than 17 years old must come with an adult. Regularly designated sorters work on early Tuesday and Friday a.m. so if youth have time off in the morning they can assist on those days as well. Please contact Marie Clark at mariepaulaclark@yahoo.com for more information.
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Watering Indoor Plants
Youth are needed to help water plants in the church, narthex, and parish center for 15-20 minutes per week, one day a week, flexible time. Contact Mary Doerflein at mrdoerflein@gmail.com for more information.
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Children’s Liturgy of the Word (CLOW)
This is an ongoing commitment for “shepherds” to assist with the teachers during the 5:15 and the 9:15 Masses. The new schedule does not come out until January, but youth can sign up to be included now. Please have the youth think about how many months they wish to be on the schedule since we do a calendar for the whole year. Contact Julie Hall for more information.
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Homestart
Homestart is the women and children's shelter on Homestead Road. Our parish, along with other churches, provides dinners for the women each week. We are always in need of additional help. Youth can help by: thinking up a menu, shopping for ingredients, paying for the ingredients, making the dinner (at their house or the shelter), and deliver the dinner to the shelter. They would receive hours for all of the work, and it normally totals at least 5 -6 hours per dinner. Youth are encouraged to work in pairs or groups for this project. Please contact Cindy Hynes at Cindy_Hynes@dentistry.unc.edu for more information. She will help work with the youth's schedule as well.
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PORCH "Double Baggers"
The PORCH organizers need help every third Sunday of the month, from 8pm-9pm, to help double-bag and to help set up for the Monday morning food sort. Those in need of service hours are more than welcome to help out. For those youth interested in participating in service hours with Porch, all activities are currently being held at Extraordinary Ventures on Elliott Rd, due to Covid. A sign up genius is used to fill the needed slots. To receive the emails that send the link for the sign up, please contact Carol Lucas at cjlucas3@aol.com
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VolunteerMatch.org
Volunteer Match connects people to nonprofit organizations in need of assistance. Please note that this is simply a resource for seeking out volunteer opportunities and St. Thomas More is not affiliated with volunteer match or the nonprofits it advertises. It is up to you (the high school student) to determine if a nonprofit organization is the right volunteer opportunity for you. For opportunities in the Chapel Hill/Durham area, click here.

Mission Trip Car Wash Fundraiser Washer/Dryer
April 30th - St. Thomas More Parking Lot
Help us fundraise to offset the cost of our high school youth ministry service trip by washing cars during Mass! We need folks to hold signs, check people in, wash, and dry vehicles for the fundraiser. You will receive 3 service hours for participating in this opportunity. Sign up for a slot here. If all slots are full, please do not just show up to help. Having too many people can make things more difficult for our organizers.

High School Youth Ministry Summer Service Trip
June 25 - 30 - Knoxville, TN
Join fellow high school students from our parish as we travel to Knoxville with Catholic Heart Work Camp! Through Catholic Heart, we will participate in community service opportunities to help improve the lives of low-income families, children, and the elderly by partnering with local non-profits. Catholic Heart also provides amazing post-work-day activities including dance parties, prayer experiences, and fellowship building activities! Visit our Youth Mission Trip page for sign up information!
NOTE: Young people in Confirmation preparation who sign up for our youth service trip will receive 20 service hours. (The maximum number of hours needed for Confirmation). 
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Youth Ministry Setup Crew
Help us ensure that everything is set up for youth ministry on Sunday! Arrive at 5:00 PM on Sunday night to double-check that rooms are arranged properly by moving tables and chairs, cleaning, and assisting catechists as needed. Please note: you must notify Kristin of your interest AT LEAST 1 full week in advance of the Sunday you'd like to volunteer and be willing to volunteer for the remainder of the year. Volunteering for 1 or 2 Sundays creates more work for our staff than it does help. All youth must be accompanied by a parent or guardian from 5-6 PM, until youth ministry begins. Youth may not be dropped off and left unsupervised before youth ministry. Contact Kristin Hauser, Director of Youth Ministry, to volunteer! 
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Translation Assistance 
If you are able to read and write in both english and spanish, consider assisting our youth ministry program with some translations! We are always looking for help making information more accessible to our youth ministry parents. Translations could be completed on your own time within a weeks time. The ability to meet deadlines and follow through on commitments is extremely important for this volunteer opportunity, as failure to complete translations could result in members of our community not recieving the important information that they need. Contact Kristin Hauser, Director of Youth Ministry, to volunteer! 
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Youth House Maintenance 
Grab a few of your friends and help us keep our Youth House clean and usable! For those who are interested in getting a few more Confirmation Service Hours, this will be the perfect job! Put on your iPod and clean, clean, clean. Please note: You must have two SET (Safe Environment Trained) adults to accompany you for this project or the parents of each youth present. Contact Kristin Hauser, Director of Youth Ministry, to volunteer! 
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Youth Ministry Spotify Playlist
Help serve our community by creating a Spotify playlist for use at youth ministry events! The playlist must have at least 2.5 hours of music on it and all songs must be youth-ministry appropraite (no cuss words, sexual themes, or drug references). Reach out to Kristin if you'd like to take on this project!
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RCIA-C
We need youth as sponsors for kids in the RCIA. There are several important aspects of this ministry. (1) It will be a two year commitment (until Easter 2019 with the present group), (2) Hispanic youth are encouraged to become sponsors, as many of our catechumens are Hispanic, (3) the youth need to be Confirmed. Please contact Julie Hall for more information.
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Lectoring
The lector ministry would love to have some more young lectors. Youth are welcome to come to a new lector training. Usually youth can lector for at least a year before they head off to college. Please contact Jim Boyd at STMLectors@gmail.com for information.
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Eucharistic Minister Training
Confirmed teens interested in becoming Eucharistic Minsters are invited to training sessions scheduled a few times a year.  Please contact James Rizza for more information on dates and times.
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