Opportunities for Service

Giving Opportunity

The Good Shepherd Communities Foundation is looking for donors to assist the services they provide for seniors and the staff. The Foundation has a Living Care Fund which assures residents they will not be asked to leave if their personal finances have been depleted in paying for their own care. The Foundation provides a college scholarship for one Maine-Endwell graduate each year who is pursuing studies in the medical field, and LPN scholarships to Good Shepherd employees. Grants are also given to each facility for resident directed capital expenditures.

For more information, visit gscfoundation.org.

Community Meal

Every Tuesday, 5:00–5:45pm

Our Community Meal is a free meal that is open to anybody in the community. The meal is served every Tuesday, 5:00–5:45pm, to approximately 125–150 people.

Some of the many volunteers who help us make the Community Meal happen each week.

We’re looking for volunteers to help with food preparation, plating, and serving dinners. We invite you to donate your time, energy, and experience. Our volunteers say they feel rewarded many times over for the help they provide in making a difference in the lives of others.

  • Shift 1, 12:30–4pm — Prepare, cook, and assemble food for the meal, set tables, and help with other dinner prep as needed.
  • Shift 2, 4–7pm — Serve meals in the dining room, run dishes back to the kitchen, serve beverages, and assist with cleanup. This is a fast-paced, community-engaging shift.

Want to volunteer? Sign up at http://upcbgm.org/serve-others/volunteer-at-upc

If you’d like to learn more about this vital and much-needed ministry, please contact Community Meal Coordinator Katie Kukol at 607-722-4219 or meal@upcbgm.org. Thanks!

Sewing Group

Wednesdays, 9am–12pm

The Sewing Group made fidget quilts and donated them to the Good Shepherd Village’s memory unit. These quilts provide sensory stimulation for the restless hands of patients with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia.

The Sewing Group meets every week in the Upper Lounge on the 2nd floor, working to create crib-size or lap quilts, decorative pillows, and walker “carry bags,” as well as knitted hats, sweaters, mittens, scarves, and baby items. Our donations are given to:

Charities including Mom’s House, the YWCA, Rescue Mission, Birthright, Meals on Wheels, and Camp Sunshine (for children with terminal cancer);

Care facilities including Willow Point, Fairview Good Shepherd, United Methodist Homes (Elizabeth Church & St. Louise Manor), Hilltop, Bridgewater, and Absolute Care;

as well as our homebound members and our UPC lobby. Any newborns in our congregation receive a quilt gift.

Anyone interested is encouraged to join them on Wednesday mornings starting at 9am. Bring a sandwich to enjoy lunch during fellowship at 12 noon. No special sewing skills are needed for cutting squares, design layout, pinning, tying, setting the table for lunch, or heating water for tea. Sewing machine and hand hemming skills are a plus.

Care & Share Project

2nd Wednesday of every month, 9:30am–12:30pm

This program provides personal care/hygiene items to individuals and families who hold Broome County, New York State Benefit Identification cards and receive SNAP benefits. The purpose of the Care & Share Project is to help each household supplement products that cannot be purchased with SNAP benefits. We continue the effort to encourage recipients of the Care & Share program to supply their own bags to take items home.

All hands welcome!

Thank you to all those who continue to support this program. Please help by purchasing products, or donating funds to support the project.

We need: bars of soap, shampoo, deodorant, razors, laundry and dishwashing detergents, and sanitary napkins/tampons. These items can be dropped off at the office.

For more information, or to volunteer, contact the office (office@upcbgm.org).