Volunteers Lending Hands For the Less Fortunate

Recently, St. Vincent de Paul Phoenix’s downtown dining room was fortunate to receive extra help serving food to the more than 700 homeless and working poor guests that get a nourishing meal there each and every day.

Republican Congressman John Shadegg spent several hours greeting hundreds of homeless and working poor guests and handing out hot plates of food. It is not often that you see a senator or congressman serving their constituents in such a direct way. A number of the guests recognized Congressman Shadegg and were visibly moved by his presence.

Shadegg has represented the 3rd congressional district in Arizona for the last 14 years and announced his retirement earlier this year. His visit to St. Vincent de Paul was purely personal as he arrived without staff.

The day after Congressman Shadegg’s visit, nine players from the MLB Arizona Diamondback team, ten staff members and General Manager, Derrick Hall served a hot dog lunch to our guests. Bobby Freeman was also on hand to set the festive tone playing the electric keyboards. Hall mentioned that the Diamondbacks brought some of the younger players so that they could learn about the joys of volunteering and of giving back to the community.

Everyone worked hard handing out meals, cleaning tables, filling water glasses and signing autographs. Barry Enright, a Diamondbacks pitcher said, “Being here and seeing all these hungry people really makes baseball seem small. I’m so glad I could come today to serve.”

Each of the wonderful volunteers are very welcome and appreciated whether they come once or many times, but there are some volunteers at St. Vincent de Paul Phoenix that are very special. And one very special volunteer is Rozanne Hird. Ms Hird is a volunteer that manages the largest St. Vincent de Paul dining room each weekend!

Hird has been volunteering at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul for the last 15 years and has been managing their Henry Unger Dining Room on weekends for the last 13. The Henry Unger Dining Room serves breakfast to between 400 to 500 people and then lunch to another 800 or more on a given day.

“I’m blessed to have a house and a car and nice clothes, while some of these people have nothing. To be able to help is really my passion. Every day, no matter what, when I come in here, I feel great. It just makes me feel so good to give back…” Hird says.

She goes on to say that contributing to your community is a win-win-win for business people. Most importantly, helping others makes you feel really good inside. You can help spread the word about the organization you volunteer for and help them grow. And you might get a little exposure for your own business while you’re at it.

The business community can’t be separate from the community at large. Those two will just naturally come together. For me, I help people in my business, and then on weekends I get to help people here. Ms. Hird is the Founder & President of the RR Hird and Company.

“I love it here at St. Vincent de Paul. Volunteering here makes me feel really, really good.” Hird says.

Rozanne certainly makes the staff, other volunteers and guests at St. Vincent de Paul feel really, really good that she continues to give so much of her precious time and talent to help so many needy people in the Phoenix area. svdpx0