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CHARLOTTE — Catholic Social Services, the local Catholic Charities agency, is hiring coordinators to lead its flourishing volunteer efforts in three regions of the diocese: Charlotte, Asheville and Winston-Salem.

"Our decision to focus on connecting volunteers, especially from the parishes, with the outreach of Catholic Social Services was driven first from the writings on charity by Pope Benedict XVI and, second, by the tremendous increase in need we are experiencing each week at our three regional offices," said Dr. Gerard Carter, executive director of Catholic Social Services.

"'Deus Caritas Est' ('God is Love') provides strong guidance in connecting our life as a Catholic social service agency with the administration of the sacraments and the proclamation of the Good News. As the Holy Father wrote: 'The Church cannot neglect the service of charity any more than she can neglect the Sacraments and the Word.'

"It is also clearly evident to us that the increase of those in need is quickly reaching critical capacity and that there are no signs of abatement. Just last week, Catholic Social Services provided 569 people with 6,857 pounds of food at the three regional offices. It takes a lot of volunteers to make this happen."

Catholic Social Services offices in Charlotte, Asheville and Winston-Salem are planning to hire one coordinator each to help manage this volunteer work. The Charlotte position will be a full-time position, and the Asheville and Winston-Salem jobs will be part-time.

"We expect the volunteer coordinators to be present at parishes on a very regular basis and to be actively engaged with encouraging volunteering opportunities with youth and adult groups," Carter said. "Our goal is for these regional volunteer coordinators to provide yet another way for parishioners to put their faith into action by engaging in the charitable work of the Church beyond what they already do at the parish. We see this as an ideal cooperative connection between our local parishes and Catholic Social Services."

Carter said he hopes to have the three positions filled by August.

-- SueAnn Howell, staff writer