Outreach Ministry

. . . Helping People in Our Community

The volunteer Outreach Projects on this page have been decided on for the upcoming year. In addition, some time during the first year of the committee working together, a survey will be sent out to all congregants to get input for subsequent year’s activities and volunteer interests. It is the committee’s goal to get everyone involved!

Stay tuned for upcoming events. In the meantime, feel free to talk to any of the project chairs and other committee members on how you can get involved.

Remember, the heart of a volunteer is not measured in size, but by the depth of the commitment to make a difference in the lives of others! — Kathy Emig - Volunteer Outreach Coordinator

blood driveBlood Drives

Did you know that someone needs blood every three seconds? And that over 700 blood donors are needed each day to meet Arizona’s needs alone?

United Blood Services provides 92% of the blood needs in the Valley, and Unity of Phoenix is honored to play a part in meeting those needs. We hold blood drives on our campus four times a year. Volunteers are needed in the weeks leading up to the drive to inform and encourage sign ups. Volunteers are also needed to help coordinate, support and sign in donors on the day of the event.

Our participation in this project helps to guarantee the ongoing availability of blood for the many patients who need it. As part of the blood drives, we have also begun an organ donor registration program. 

Cecilia CasillasOur BLOOD DRIVES are a great example of how much service can make a difference. I get a lot of gratification knowing that, in exchange for such a small amount of time and effort, I am able to help someone in a life or death situation; we hear story after story about how blood donations help so many. One of these days I may be on the other side of the line, and it’s comforting to know that there are people out there who will give blood in order to help me through.      Event Chair: Cecilia Casillas


Organ Donor Program

Our Organ Donor Program runs on the same Sundays as our Blood Drives.
"You have the power to save lives by registering to be an organ and tissue donor. Register today for someone's tomorrow."
Event Chair: Ursula Neal

Ursula Neal Our daughter was born dying with highly deficient lungs. We had no clue that anything was wrong until she tried to take her first breath. She was given a 0% chance of living, and we were told that our only choice was to take her off the ventilator and let her die. That just wasn’t an option for us, so we started diligently looking for other solutions. We found a Children’s Hospital in St. Louis that did lung transplants, and by some miracle all things came together. OUR DAUGHTER WAS TRANSFERRED THERE FOR A DOUBLE LUNG TRANSPLANT THAT SAVED HER LIFE.

When we got her home and stabilized, we started volunteering in whatever capacity we could to help with tissue and organ donation. In the past nine years, we’ve encountered so many powerful stories. Every one is sad and fabulous at the same time, because the death of the donor enables a rebirth on the transplant side. Donating your organs is one of the most altruistic acts a person can do. One person can help up to 75 people with tissue donations, alone. There is such a shortage of organs; people are waiting and dying every day. I encourage everyone to sign up to be a donor so that, when they’re done with their body, they can give the precious gift of life to others. - Ursula Neal, Organ Donation Registration Chair

Helping at Desert MissionSaturday OutReach Events

Helping at food banks and crisis nurseries and serving meals to the underprivileged: these type of events have served as Unity’s key outreach for several years. Small but mighty groups of Unity volunteers gather on campus Saturday mornings to connect and carpool to a wide variety of non-profit organizations to lend a helping hand. From chopping onions to stocking diapers, these faithful servants provide the volunteer force that helps to keep these Valley organizations effective.
Lead Volunteers: Roberta Voss and Kara Gonzales

Chris FinneyOur events take place at various AGENCIES THAT PROVIDE SERVICES AND MEET BASIC NEEDS—SUCH AS FOOD AND CLOTHING—TO HOMELESS PEOPLE AND OTHERS IN NEED. I feel strongly about helping people in the community, and we all so thoroughly enjoy doing it, while also getting to know one another. We do everything from filling emergency food boxes, to serving food, to sorting and organizing clothing for homeless people. Our events are intended to be a very simple way of making a big contribution by just showing up for a few hours on one day.

It’s heartwarming to see how our volunteers are so touched, energized and inspired by the people they help. There’s a uniqueness and depth that people feel when they are actually able to work ‘hands on’ with the people who receive the service, whether it’s serving food, giving manicures and massages to women at a shelter, or creating fun for children who’ve been through devastating circumstances. You get to see firsthand the fruits of your labor. In fact, many of our volunteers enjoy our Saturday Projects so much that they go back to the agencies again and again on their own to volunteer, because they get so much fulfillment out of the work they do there. - Chris Finney, Past Lead Volunteer for Saturday Outreach Events

Diaper drive for ICMInterfaith Cooperative Ministries

Interfaith Cooperative Ministries (ICM) is an organization made up of over 30 ministries in the greater Phoenix area which serve the working poor. The ministries provide services to more than 60,000 clients each year, 40% of whom are children.

Unity has been involved with ICM for a number of years, facilitating drives to collect everything from clothing and household items to tuna, peanut butter, diaper and toiletries. ICM provides an immediate response to basic human needs, and our donations help to make that possible. In addition to facilitating donations, our volunteers have gotten the word out about drives in the courtyard, and also coordinated collection points and sorting.

Michelle AbrahamCOLLECTING FOOD FOR THE INTERFAITH COOPERATIVE MINISTRIES FOOD BANK is also rewarding. Putting food on the table for someone who needs sustenance— especially for children — is very gratifying. Each hand that brings even one can of food helps those who can not help themselves. By helping one another, we serve as the arm of God.    
Contact Kathy Emig Volunteer Outreach Coordinator at Volunteer@unityphx.org or 602.978.3200

Habitat for Humanity workersHabitat for Humanity

For the past several years, Unity of Phoenix has teamed with other organizations to help build single-family homes for local families. We intend to repeat our success by building another home over the upcoming year.

Habitat for Humanity is an international, non-profit agency that strives to eliminate poverty housing, and has built over 200,000 homes in 100 countries. Homes are built based on a partnership between a family and the community. A qualifying family pays for their home through sweat equity hours and special financing arrangements. Unity of Phoenix volunteers will work alongside the family to provide labor during most phases of the home's construction.
Lead Volunteer: Monica Lawfield

Christmas presentsPalomino/Echo Mountain Christmas Project

For more than a decade, Unity has partnered with Palomino primary and intermediate schools, along with Echo Mountain primary school in recent years, to serve a large number of financially-challenged families in our neighborhood. Unity’s major outreach project with the Palomino community comes at Christmas time when congregants contribute money for food certificates, purchase gifts for students and classroom supplies for their teachers from “wish lists,” throw holiday classroom parties with refreshments and games, and donate warmth items (jackets, sweaters, sweatshirts, blankets) to the school’s thrift store. Because virtually all Palomino students are on federally subsidized free breakfast and lunch programs, the two-week holiday break from school makes it difficult for many families to feed their children, let alone prepare a special holiday meal. To help bridge this gap, in both 2010 and 2011 Unity donated more than $10,000 in food certificates, “adopted” more than 300 4th-6th grade students and 12 teachers, and delivered two huge truckloads of warmth items. This heartwarming project truly makes a difference in the lives of Palomino children and their families, and is what being “in community” is all about.
Event Chair: Pam Petersen

Pam Petersen“Our annual Christmas Angel Project is deeply imbedded in the very fabric of this ministry, and is a shining example of what we do best at Unity of Phoenix. The generosity of our Unity congregants never ceases to amaze me! Someone always steps up and makes that final donation to put us over our food certificate goal, or takes the remaining 10 name tags off the tree to ensure all children are adopted. I love working in the courtyard when families return brightly wrapped packages and share shopping experiences of having their own kids select the perfect gift for another child. Better yet is watching the faces of an entire classroom of students simultaneously open their gifts and squeal with delight that they got exactly what they wanted. There are so many ways for Unity angels to volunteer and contribute to this project and, as is usually the case, the rewards of giving come back multifold.”
Event Chair: Pam Petersen

Boys eating mealFeeding the Multitudes

How do you feed a soul? With 1,800 hamburgers, 150 pounds of potato salad, ice cream and an abundance of willingness! For the past two years, our amazing Unity of Phoenix volunteers have fed multiple souls through this incredible OutReach project. This event blessed not only those in our greater community who could use a hand up, but also reached into the heart of the multitude of Unity volunteers who participated in making it happen.

Our commitment is not just to feed these folks physically, but also to “feed” them spiritually by being present to them. We serve chips, cold drinks and dignity to those there for a meal. We also distribute mail, provide supplies for arts and crafts, and have music to support the atmosphere of abundance and celebration.
Lead Volunteers: Shelia Miller and Nancy Toms