Justice & Peace Ministries

Brown Bag Ministry prepares and distributes bagged lunches every Saturday morning to one of the two low-income senior apartment communities in Durham we serve. The ministry warmly welcomes families and groups of all ages to join in. Volunteers come together to make sandwiches, pack lunches, share a moment of communal prayer, and connect face-to-face with neighbors in need. 

Contact:

Kelly Maglio, Karina Miranda, Laura Panebianco, and Pam Peroutky

Service Opportunities

The Creation for Care Ministry strives to meet the challenges from scripture, Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Sí, and our Franciscan roots to respond to “The Cry of the Earth and the Poor”. We suggest changes in our daily lifestyles, encourage changes and improvements in how our parish impacts the environment, and participate in organizations that advocate on the local and state level. Ministry options include our parish Community Garden, a local CSA (Community Supported Agricultural) program, or regular collaborations with community organizations.

To learn more click here.

Contact:

Pam James

Stfccreation@gmail.com

Service Opportunities

Catholic Parish Outreach – On-going Donation Collection
CPO is a ministry of Catholic Charities that serves the needs of people facing difficult financial times by providing food and clothing for children and maternity clothing for mothers. Certain donations are collected year-round in Clare Hall.

Contact :
Sue Hand | 919-846-7954  /  CPO | 919-873-0245

***

Catholic Parish Outreach Donation Drives
Join us twice a year as we host food drives for and invite parishioners to volunteer at CPO, a ministry of Catholic Charities that serves the needs of people facing difficult financial times.

Contact:

Anne-Marie Summers

summers51984@gmail.com

Service Opportunities

The Farm to church CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) supports local BIPOC farmers and sustainable and/or organic farming methods. By subscribing to a CSA, you share in both the risks and rewards of a farmer and their farm produce. The subscription fee is paid up front to the farmer. As a member of the CSA, you will receive a weekly box of sustainably and organically grown produce for 8 weeks during the CSA season.  There are options to join in the fall, spring, and summer. 

To learn more about the history of the farm click here!
In 1865, Patrick Brown’s great-grandfather escaped slavery on Oakley Grove Plantation in Warren County, North Carolina. After the war, he worked as a sharecropper on another plantation and started what would become a fourth-generation farm. Today, Patrick is committed to regenerative farming practices so his century-old farm can stay in the family for at least another 100 years—and he’s leading with industrial hemp.

Contact:

Elizabeth Kearse

eskearse@gmail.com

CORRAL Riding Academy is a faith-motivated nonprofit that equips adolescent girls in high-risk situations through a long-term, holistic program of equine therapy and education. Reach out for more information on opportunities to provide transportation and academic support for program participants on a weekly basis or check out the service opportunities portal to help with hands-on support around the Kildaire campus on monthly work days.

Contact:

Donna Schwede

donna.schwede@gmail.com

Service Opportunities

The annual CROP Hunger Walk, taking place in October, raises awareness of issues of hunger and food insecurity in our local and international community. In addition to walking, optional fundraising goes to support local and international organizations addressing these very issues. Opportunities exist to walk, donate, or join the leadership team.

Contact:

Mary Ellen McGuire

MaryEllen.McGuire@stfrancisraleigh.org | (919) 847-8205 x270

Curbside Care Ministry provides care packages to our brothers and sisters in need whom we often meet while driving around the Triangle area. We gather donations, pack the bags, and distribute these packages to the parish on the first weekend of the month.

Contact:

Alyson Zwerneman and Katie Dyer

alysonzwerneman@gmail.com, kdyer516@gmail.com

Service Opportunities

We coordinate a number of drives: food for local food pantries, supplies for migrant farm workers, and school supplies and backpacks for children. We also coordinate an Advent Giving Tree for local organizations, families, and ministries.

Contact:

Ashley Watson

919-847-8205 x 444

This ministry provides comfort and joy to pediatric outpatients and their families during the Advent season. Volunteers deliver wrapped gifts, collected through the St. Francis Giving Trees, to children receiving care at the Duke Children’s Hospital. 

In addition to assisting with gift delivery, volunteers help manage the patient flow during visits from Santa and Mrs. Claus (longtime parishioners Joe and Geanie), offer light refreshments (as permitted by current health guidelines), and most importantly, engage warmly with children and families. Our “elves” accompany each child to select a gift, thoughtfully organized by age and gender, helping to create a moment of joy during what can be a challenging time. 

This ministry offers a meaningful way to extend the love and support of our parish community to families facing medical challenges during the holiday season. We are currently seeking a new ministry leader to work with us who is excited to expand this outreach to include seasonal children’s crafts and celebrations for other holidays throughout the year, such as Easter, Independence Day, Halloween, and Thanksgiving, as opportunities allow. 

Contact:

Joe and Geanie Slifer

Jslifer1@nc.rr.com | (919) 418-7727

Our annual Fair Trade and Alternative Gift Market is in November. This event provides an opportunity to purchase fair trade and alternative gifts from various vendors that ensure fair wages and dignity for vulnerable people worldwide. A parish leadership team is tasked with planning, leading, and promoting this event.

Contact:

Mary Ellen McGuire

(919) 847-8205 x 270

Make a difference by helping support the lives of families experiencing temporary homelessness. Our program, with Family Promise of the Triangle, provides meals and groceries while families work towards permanent housing. If you’d like more info or sign up to volunteer, contact Jim Packard. Every family deserves a home. 

Contact:

Jim Packard

stfa.fp@gmail.com

Guided by a care for creation, the Franciscan Community Garden uses sustainable practices to provide fresh produce to local needy households. The garden is on the parish campus in front of La Verna (the log cabin house). All levels of volunteers are welcome to join. The main work is done on Saturday mornings.

Contact:

Pat and Paul Kelly

mpmkelly@hotmail.com

Service Opportunities

Join us as we collaborate with Habitat for Humanity to work toward our vision by building strength, stability, and self-reliance in partnership with families needing decent and affordable housing. Volunteers work alongside soon-to-be homeowners in the construction of their new homes.

Contact:

Will Connelly | willbconnelly@gmail.com

Service Opportunities

Contact:

Service Opportunities

For Friday Dinners contact:
Ashan James & Angela James
2angelajames@gmail.com; 2ashanjames@gmail.com

For Wednesday Dinners contact:
Lisa Demunyk & Kate Griffith
ldemuynck10@gmail.com; kategr2002@yahoo.com

We strive to aide our parishioners in remaining engaged in the “signs of the times” by promoting opportunities for learning, reflection, prayer, and action. Events throughout the year include educational programs, films, guest speakers, book reviews, and more.

Contact:

Mary Ellen McGuire

MaryEllen.Mcguire@stfrancisraleigh.org | 919-847-8205 x270

We invite you to “be” with us in the community as we Cook Together with L’Arche North Carolina participants. Volunteers play a vital role in cultivating a warm and inclusive atmosphere. This may look like engaging others in conversation, creating connections, sitting quietly with someone, or helping a friend participate in the day’s activity. Every interaction and friendly connection is a huge support for cultivating a community of belonging at L’Arche! Join us every 1st Thursday of the month!

Contact:

Gladys Whitehouse

gladys.whitehouse@gmail.com

Travel with a team of drivers during the summer and connect with migrant workers of local farms by driving them to and from mass at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, in Louisburg. Once a month, a fiesta is held for the workers, their families, and volunteers to join in community.

Contact:

Tom Carlson and Carlos Panameno

tcarlson28@gmail.com. carlos.panamenojr@gmail.com.

Service Opportunities

We provide breakfast for the guests of Oak City Cares experiencing homelessness and food insecurity. Partnering with OCC, we listen to, connect with, and serve persons at risk or experiencing homelessness so they can have a hot, nutritious meal.

Contact:

Suzanne McConnell | suzannemcconnell.54@gmail.com

Jim Caravello | jimcaravello23@gmail.com

Service Opportunities

As part of this vital initiative, every parishioner is invited to actively participate in community organizing that reflects our Gospel call to seek justice and promote the common good for all.

ONE Wake is a non-partisan, multi-ethnic, and multi-issue organization composed of faith communities, associations, and nonprofits across Wake County, representing more than 50,000 households. Together, we work to identify shared concerns, develop practical solutions, and advocate for systemic change that uplifts the most vulnerable among us.

ONE Wake has been recognized and supported through grants from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development for its impactful work in justice and advocacy.
To learn more, please visit ONE Wake’s website.
Contact:

Nancy Dilger

ndilger3@gmail.com | (919) 608-2636

Contact:

Nancy Dilger

ndilger3@gmail.com | (919) 608-2636

ONE Wake liaison for The Catholic Community of St. Francis of Assisi

Established with a faith-based, long-term housing, trauma-informed care model that focuses on stabilization, restoration, and independence, OneHope Refuge is addressing the scourge that is sex trafficking for women and children in NC. Support within this ministry involves opportunities around education, meal service, therapeutic activities, admin tasks, and more.

Contact:

Jill Kearney

Jill@onehoperefuge.org

Every year we host two food drives to stock the food pantry for Our Lady of the Rosary parish in Louisburg, NC where approximately 24% of the population live below the poverty line. 

Contact:

Tess Ferrer-Turner

tessferrer89@yahoo.com

Service Opportunities

As part of our ongoing effort here at St. Francis of Assisi to feed with dignity those in need in our community and beyond, and to do our part to be good stewards of God’s resources here on earth, we participate in Panera Bread’s Day-End Dough Nation Program.

Each Monday evening at the Brier Creek Panera Bread we go and pick up the leftover breads and pastries at the end of the day. We then deliver these beautiful treats the following morning to one of 2 locations. Our Lady of the Rosary Food Pantry OR Durham Center for Senior Life

This gift of food that supplements their monthly intake is very much appreciated by all these communities.

Contact:

Emma Dempsey and Denise Mickalites

emakdemp@gmail.com | mickalit@gmail.com

Service Opportunities

Contact:

Ben Whitehouse

whitehouseben5@gmail.com

The Prison Pen Pal Ministry builds connections with people sentenced to death in NC. Each member is matched with a person living on Death Row who requests a pen pal friendship. Often we discover that our pen pals express talents in art, writing, and music. Support from the leadership team is given as needed and during regular meetings.

Contact:

Catherine Maher and Vicki Jack

sfapenpal@gmail.com

Service Opportunities

Join a dedicated group who meets to promote interracial and interfaith dialogue, seeking understanding through prayer and discussion with members of Baptist Grove Church.

Contact:

Tom Zimmerman

919- 848-7546

Create community as part of a circle of 6+/- adults helping usher a refugee family relocating to the USA. Share insights, connections and assistance in a myriad of ways at the intersection of the family’s needs and your interests but always aim to teach rather than simply to do. Flexible time commitment of several hours monthly for 6 months (or beyond if you continue the friendship). Training plus background check required; ample support provided. 

Contact:

Heather Scanlon

7scanlons@gmail.com

In partnership with Welcome House Raleigh, come share time, talent and/or treasure setting up homes for refugees arriving in our area. Tasks Needed: cleaning; setting up areas of a home with decor and supplies; collecting/delivering donated furnishings and household goods; moving furnishings into and out of storage and homes; cooking a Welcome Home meal; grocery shopping to stock the pantry; donating household goods; supplying toiletry and cleaning supplies, etc. We care for our resources by reusing and repurposing many items as we welcome and ease the transition for our new neighbors. 

Contact:

Mary Ellen McGuire

MaryEllen.McGuire@stfrancisraleigh.org

Service Opportunities

Our ministry provides approximately 60 home-cooked meals for the families staying at the Ronald McDonald House of Durham on the 3rd Wednesday of each month. We collect donations and then a few volunteers meet at RMH to prepare and serve the meal. Please join us in helping provide “a little piece of home” for these families who are going through a very difficult time in their lives.

Contact:

Michelle Harris

michelle.harris95@gmail.com | 919-656-4477

Service Opportunities

This ministry nurtures a relationship with a small, rural village in Guatemala called Las Margaritas II. We exchange visits and deepen our bonds of shared life and friendship. We invite parishioners to join us on pilgrimage for an experience of a life time or host villagers when they visit us every few years.

Contact:

Liz Mosler

919-594-4882

Week-long mission trips to urban Philadelphia where SFA volunteers prepare and serve hot meals to the hungry and homeless in a Franciscan setting. Several trips are scheduled each year.

2025 Schedule: Feb. 17 – 21, April 28 – May 2, July 14 – 18 (SFA Youth Ministry), Oct. 20 – 24

2026 Schedule: Feb 16 – 20, April 13 – 17

Contact:

Diana Melo and Pablo Cantu

melo.diana@gmail.com

Service Opportunities

We share God’s mercy by serving those needing assistance for an acute financial burden. The goal is to keep families in their homes with the utilities on. We join to grow spiritually by offering person-to-person service to those in need. For information on how to volunteer or donate, go to the St. Vincent de Paul Website.

Contact:

Cathy Smith

smithtcr@gmail.com

If you need assistance with rent or utilities, please call the SVdP helpline at 919-534-4842.

Service Opportunities