Webinar looks to spur Catholic involvement

The Catholic civic engagement organization Catholic Conscience is hosting a Nov. 25 webinar to encourage people to volunteer to serve on non-profit and charity boards.

“We are kind of hoping to help raise the quality of board members and also at the same time maybe inspire people to not be quite so afraid of it,” said Catholic Conscience president Matthew Marquardt of the webinar “Serving on Boards and Committees as a Catholic.”

The free webinar will feature Julie Cachia, former president of the board of Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of Toronto and a Regis College board member, Lou Rocha, former executive director of the Catholic Principals’ Council of Ontario and another former president of the board of Catholic Charities, plus Marquardt, a lawyer who serves on several boards.

Serving on volunteer boards isn’t primarily about networking or building a resume or raising your profile in the community, said Marquardt. It’s just another way to serve. While there will never be enough direct service volunteers who stack shelves at the food bank or make beds at the shelter, helping a charity or non-profit map out its future while working on a board is also an important form of service, Marquardt said.

“It’s a beautiful way to serve and give back,” he said. “It’s actually a very good and educational thing. You get to know people. Oftentimes very good people.”

Marquardt particularly hopes to get younger people involved.

“In my experience, the younger people who have an interest in the Church tend to have an interest in being an active member of the Church — not just sitting in the pew and listening to Father talk at them,” he said. “They feel like something practical ought to be done.”

The one-hour webinar kicks off at 7 p.m. (ET).

Tickets and links are available from Eventbrite at  https://bit.ly/3lm34oC.