How Do I Go About Actually Doing Service?

How do I go about doing these acts of service?
The are several ideas and organizations in our area where you may be able to fulfill your service obligations. This is by no means an exhaustive list. It is meant to give you some ideas. Do your own research, find a way that you can help someone in need, directly or indirectly.
Some things, you can do on your own throughout the course of your daily life. Other things will require that you make a phone call and set up a time to go and serve at a particular organization or ministry.

Can you give us an example of how to fulfill this requirement?
Sure! It could look something like this:

1. Called a food bank and helped sort food with my parents on a Saturday—Feed the Hungry
   
2. Visited a nursing home and played games with the residents—Visit the sick/imprisoned
   
3. Served as an usher at a funeral at St. Thomas Aquinas—Bury the Dead
   
4. Prayed before the Blessed Sacrament for family and friends—Pray for the living and the dead
   
5. Tutored younger students after school—Instruct the ignorant 

Here are a few examples and ideas for performing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy . This list is by no means extensive. Try and think of other ways where you might be able to bring the love of God to people in need, either directly or indirectly. Feeding the hungry can be handing a bowl of soup to a homeless man, but it can also be deliberately collecting canned goods from your neighbors to donate to the food bank. Being a good listener for a friend who had a bad day can be just as meaningful as spending time with someone who recently lost a loved one.

Corporal Works of Mercy

       Feed The Hungry

• -Volunteer at North Texas Food Bank: http://www.ntfb.org 214-330-1396
  
• -Volunteer at Minnie’s Food Pantry: http://www.minniesfoodpantry.org 972-596-0253
  
• -Volunteer at God’s Food Pantry: http://www.godsfoodpantry.com 972-633-9777
  
• -Volunteer at a Catholic Charities food pantry at the Brady Senior Center or Neuhoff Senior Center http://www.catholiccharitiesdallas.org Maureen Dunlap: 214-520-6590 ext. 123
  
• -Contact a local community garden and ask how you can help them grow or harvest food.
  
• -Serve a meal at Austin Street Shelter: http://www.austinstreet.org 214-428-4242
  
• -Prepare or serve food for The Soup Mobile: http://www.soupmobile.org 1-800-375-5022
  
• -Help the Missionaries of Charity organize food for the needy on a Wednesday morning:
  214-374-3351
  
• -Serve a meal at The Stewpot: http://www.thestewpot.org Jean Jones: 214-746-2785, ext. 320
  
• -As a family, volunteer with VNA Meals On Wheels for homebound seniors:
  http://www.vnatexas.org/volunteer/ - Katherine Krause: 214-689-2639
  
• -Go grocery shopping for someone who finds it hard to get out.
  
• -Make some sack lunches and drive around as a family to hand them out to people on the street.

• Give Drink To The Thirsty

• -Plan a fundraiser for Charity:Water or some other water relief organization
  
• -Hand out water to the runners of a race, especially one that may be a fundraiser for charity
  
• -Purchase some bottles of water and drive around as a family to hand them out to construction
• workers and the homeless.

• Clothe The Naked

            -Volunteer at a local thrift store sorting clothing (St. Vincent De Paul, Good Will, ReSale by CCA). 

            -Work together with some friends and their families to “Adopt-A-Family” for Christmas. 
           -Sort clothes & donations at a crisis pregnancy center such as Birth Choice or White Rose:
           http://www.whiterosewomenscenter.org or http://www.birthchoicedallas.org/ 

         Shelter The Homeless

             -Help with a Youth Project at Habitat for Humanity: http://www.dallasareahabitat.org 

            -Help Texas Refugee Services set up an apartment for incoming refugees:

              http://refugeeservicesoftexas.org/Dallas.html 214-821-4422
            -Volunteer with Buckner to help orphans and families in need:
             http://www.buckner.org/locations/tx-dfw.shtml volunteers@buckner.org 
            -Volunteer at Genesis Women’s Shelter or their Benefit Thrift Store: 
             http://www.genesisshelter.org 214-389-7701

       Visit The Sick/Imprisoned

           -Visit and spend time with those in a nursing home or hospital 
            -Knit or crochet hats for cancer patients or premature babies. 
            -Organize a toy, book, or blanket drive for Children’s Medical Center with friends, school or family. 
            -Visit an elderly neighbor who may be lonely, spend time with them and help them with chores. 

       Bury The Dead

           -Volunteer to serve at a funeral and/or funeral reception at St. Thomas Aquinas. 
           -Look in the obituaries for people who may have died without any family and attend their funeral. 
           -Pick up trash or help with landscaping at a local cemetery.
           -Visit or make a meal for someone who has recently lost a loved one

Spiritual Works of Mercy

• Instruct The Ignorant

• -Tutor a friend or younger students after school 
• -Volunteer in the religious education classes of younger children 
• -Help teach kids about Jesus during Vacation Bible School 
• -Volunteer with a children’s literacy program at the local library 
• http://www.dallaslibrary2.org  or literacy@dallaslibrary2.org 
• -Volunteer as a helper in an ESL class (English as a Second Language) 

        Counsel The Doubtful / Comfort The Sorrowful

• -Visit and spend time with those in a nursing home or hospital.
  
• -Visit an elderly neighbor who may be lonely.
• -Spend time with a friend or family member who recently lost a loved one.
• -Encourage someone who may be grieving by your words or by sending them a card.
  

  Admonish the Sinner

• -Speak up when your friends are doing things you know are wrong.
  
• -Stand up for someone who is being picked on or bullied.
  

  Bear Wrongs Patiently

• -Try to control your anger or frustration.
  
• -Choose to avoid gossip when the opportunity to participate in it arises.
  

  Forgive Offenses Willingly

• -Don’t hold a grudge.
  
• -Make amends with a sibling you may have fought with.
  
• -Forgive a friend who may have done something to hurt your relationship.
  

  Pray For The Living And The Dead

• -Pray for an end to abortion as a family outside of an abortion center for an hour.
  
• -Look in the obituaries for people who may have died without any family and attend their funeral.
  
• -Spend time in Eucharistic Adoration praying for others.
  
• -Deliberately offered up the grace you receive at Mass for the benefit of someone else.
  
• -Visit a cemetery and lay flowers at the graves and say a prayer for the repose of the souls of the people buried there.
  
• -Pray a Rosary or Divine Mercy Chaplet for someone you know, for the suffering, or the pope.