WTC Utah and UServeUtah Teamed Up to Serve the Homeless Community on 9/11
Salt Lake City – In conjunction with the Sept. 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance, World Trade Center Utah (WTC Utah) and UServeUtah spent yesterday feeding the homeless community at the St. Vincent de Paul Dining Hall and cleaning the Weigand Homeless Resource Center. Both the dining hall and the resource center are run by Catholic Community Services (CCS).
“Serving our communities and helping those in need is a great way to honor the victims and heroes of Sept. 11,” said Derek B. Miller, president and CEO of WTC Utah. “We encourage all Utahns to contribute their time and funds to a cause close to their hearts this week. Through service we can build a stronger Utah and a more unified country.”
A group of 50 volunteers from 10 organizations joined WTC Utah and UServeUtah at the dining hall and resource center to serve the homeless population. Throughout the day, the group served 360 meals, prepared food for 1,200 sack lunches, installed 80 shelves, organized three donation rooms and scraped rust off of the Catholic Community Services fence so it can be painted later this week.
“September 11th is a day of history, emotion, and reflection,” said LaDawn Stoddard, director of UServeUtah. “It is also a National Day of Service that provides everyone an opportunity to act on the shared belief that by serving together we can make our country stronger.”
On average, Catholic Community Services feeds about 420 people for lunch and upwards of 500 people for dinner each day. The CCS resource center, open daily, has showers and restrooms available for use. It also provides a dozen other services to meet the needs of the homeless community including laundry, counseling, job seeker assistance and a library. The services at the resource center, located near the Road Home, are available for anyone to use.
Lt. Governor Spencer Cox and Utah Speaker of the House Greg Hughes joined the volunteers to serve lunch in the dining hall.
“I had an extremely impactful afternoon serving lunch to the homeless population at the St. Vincent de Paul Dining Hall,” said Speaker Hughes. “What I noticed was every person and every story is different.”
“It was an incredible learning experience to talk to people, hear their stories and serve those in the community who are the most vulnerable,” said Lt. Governor Cox. “The amazing thing about Utahns is that we volunteer. Ninety-five percent of the people that work at St. Vincent’s are volunteers.”
Those interested in volunteering with Catholic Community Services can visit www.ccsutah.org. The organization currently needs refugee mentors, meal service assistance and resource center volunteers.
“Volunteers are the core of what we do,” said Monica Rich, volunteer coordinator for Homeless Services at Catholic Community Services. “The direct effect they have is very important. They touch the lives of a lot of people.”
Utahns looking for opportunities to serve this week as part of the Sept. 11 Day of Service and Remembrance can visit userve.utah.gov/911-day-projects or www.justserve.org to find a project.
About World Trade Center Utah (WTC Utah)
wtcutah.com
The mission of World Trade Center Utah (WTC Utah) is to help Utah companies think, act and succeed globally. WTC Utah accomplishes this mission through three key objectives. First is to motivate and educate Utah businesses to expand their global presence through training seminars, regional forums and newsletters focused on international business development, trade issues and export opportunities. Second is to build capacity of Utah businesses for international trade through B2B consultations to identify expansion goals, assess current capabilities, determine overseas opportunities and connect companies with market experts and potential partners. Third is to expand global network of Utah businesses through trade missions and networking with foreign trade officials.
About UServeUtah
userve.utah.gov
UServeUtah, the Utah Commission on Service and Volunteerism, is the state’s central coordinating body for service and volunteerism. The Commission is responsible for developing, implementing, and sustaining a vision and culture of civic engagement and national and community service within the state. UServeUtah does this through promoting volunteerism, administering National Service programs, connecting people with opportunities to serve, building organizational capacity for effective volunteer engagement, and participating in strategic initiatives that mobilize volunteers to meet local needs.
