Birthday Wishes, Volunteer Dreams

     The people who volunteer with us at Presbyterian Children’s Homes & Services do so because they have a heart for sharing God’s love. Jerry and Pat Gurson of Dallas are a shining example of the way volunteers extend that love directly to our kids.
     Jerry and Pat are members of Oak Cliff Presbyterian Church, where the girls living in our Duncanville Home worship. The girls participate in Oak Cliff’s Wednesday evening LOGOS program, which teaches adults and youth to model Christ to each other in everything they do. Jerry and Pat met and became friends with the girls when they participated in the LOGOS program as table parents.
     Jerry and Pat are fairly new members of Oak Cliff Presbyterian. They joined about three years ago. They couple are in their retirement years and had been looking for a way to live and grow stronger in their Christian faith.
     So when Jerry and Pat heard about new opportunities to volunteer with PCHAS at the Duncanville home, they jumped at the chance. They have participated in three training opportunities, totaling 22 hours. Also, they have gone through the extensive application process. Now they have been matched with the Duncanville Home and are volunteer assistants, working with the family teachers to provide more opportunities for the girls to know the love of God.
     One Friday morning in their first meeting at the home, Jerry and Pat learned that two of the girls were having birthdays the next week. Pat jumped – literally! All day Saturday she was on the phone with the leaders of the Oak Cliff Presbyterian Women’s Circles, asking people to provide a shower of birthday cards for the two girls.
     By Tuesday, when she met with a circle at Grace Presbyterian Village, the nearby retirement community, Pat had collected enough cards to tie up two large packets in pink ribbons! The cards came from all five of the Presbyterian Women’s circles associated with the church.
     That Wednesday afternoon, before the girls went to the church for the LOGOS program, Pat and Jerry delivered cards, balloons and two birthday cakes – one for each girl. The whole house participated in the celebration.
The Gursons are looking forward now to the birthdays coming in July and November – and Pat is glad she’ll have a little more advance notice!                                                               back to news

GET INVOLVED

PCHAS offers a variety of opportunities for individuals, families and groups to volunteer with our ministry, including:

  • Administrative assistant to PCHAS recruiter (San Antonio)
  • Home Support for a single-parent family (Wichita Falls)

For information about volunteering, please contact
The Rev. Nancy Mossman, Volunteer Ministries Coordinator, at 1-800-888-1904 or via e-mail (volunteer@pchas.org).