Through Community Participation Supports (CPS), UCP staff create opportunities and provide essential supports so individuals of diverse abilities can develop and share their gifts as they go about their everyday lives. A primary goal of CPS is to empower adult participants to become actively involved in their communities in meaningful ways. One way they choose to do that is through volunteerism.

CPS staff and participants routinely volunteer at different locations across UCP’s service footprint. The impact of this focus on greater inclusion extends far beyond the benefit to participants; the community as a whole is better off for having been touched by these individuals. Volunteer opportunities are chosen based on a combination of community need and individual interest. Today we’d like to highlight just two of the incredible ways UCP participants are sharing their special gift of teaching and touching the lives of others.

  • CPS Shippensburg participants volunteer at the Shippensburg Produce and Outreach (SPO), a food pantry whose mission is to provide families in need with nutritious foods like fresh produce, meat, and dairy. Volunteers sort produce and bag food for over 400 families that qualify for food assistance. SPO began operation in 2008, earned nonprofit status in 2014, and has grown to serve approximately 4,000 people each month through various food distribution programs. The efforts of our CPS volunteers are both needed and appreciated by SPO staff who expressed their gratitude for the volunteers, “without their help, this wouldn’t be possible”.
  • CPS Harrisburg East participants volunteer weekly at St. Francis Soup Kitchen in Harrisburg, which provides free hot lunches daily to approximately 200 people in need. Over the course of a year, the CPS volunteers hand out and bag food for over 10,000 individuals coming through the food line. Equally as important are the smiles and hugs that serve as a simple but powerful reminder that giving back to the community with a genuine heart and positive attitude can make a huge difference.

UCP participants give their time, energy, and hearts to these volunteer efforts. In return, they receive a sense of purpose, of belonging, and of self-satisfaction… thereby living out the words of St. Francis of Assisi, “For it is in giving that we receive.”