ST. RITA RETREAT CENTER
VOLUNTEER LIST OF THINGS TO DO
St. Rita Retreat Center is located at 10800 Blackwell Road, Gold Hill, OR 97525. St. Rita Retreat Center is run almost entirely from the monies generated from retreats and from donations from people like you. The grounds and facilities encompass 62 acres. Any improvements, as well as the daily and/or routine maintenance of the grounds and buildings, are done for the most part by volunteers. Please prayerfully consider supporting this beautiful center where many people have come to be healed and to grow in their faith. You can send your tax-deductible donations to St. Rita Retreat Center, P.O. Box 310, Gold Hill, OR 97525.
If you wish to volunteer attached is a list of things that need to be done regularly, along with a few one-time projects that we are trying to accomplish. Volunteers are needed year-round and just a few hours a week, or even once or twice a month, add up and will really help to keep this a place of spiritual growth and healing for years to come. Please feel free to share this letter with others who may wish to help.
THE FOLLOWING ARE PROJECTS AND THINGS THAT NEED TO BE COMPLETED AND MAINTAINED. YOU ARE WELCOME TO COME UP ANY TIME MONDAY THROUGH SUNDAY 9AM TO SUNDOWN. CHECK THE LIST BELOW TO SEE WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE, AND HOW YOU CAN HELP. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, SPEAK WITH FATHER STEPHEN FISTER OR CALL HIM AT 541-855-1333.
THANK YOU!
Office duties -typing; designing flyers; addressing, stuffing, & mailing envelopes; folding flyers (ongoing).
Clean and maintain ponds, falls and fountains .
Water flowers and newly planted trees (ongoing).
Pull weeds around flowers (ongoing).
Painting guest rooms, benches, and buildings (ongoing).
Put in wooden steps on the steep parts of the trails.
Plant deer-resistant flowers, daffodil bulbs, iris, and daylilies (fall, winter & spring).
Pick up rocks or roll them out of the mowed areas (grounds). These are rocks that could hit the blades and damage the mowers. Any rock sticking up more than one inch should be removed if possible. They can be rolled into creeks or dry waterways or put along the trails (ongoing).
Pick up any branches on the ground where we have mowed that could hit the mower blades; move to a burn pile so we can burn it in the winter (ongoing).
Prune lower branches on trees using only manual loppers or manual saws, prune in the areas we have mowed (ongoing).
Spray blackberries & poison oak along trails and any area that we have mowed (spring & summer).
Spread bark chips on the trails (ongoing as it becomes available through donations).
Cut grass and under brush in the woods (winter & spring).
Fertilize rhododendron and flowers (see Retreat Director for fertilizer).
Sweep or blow off sidewalks, porches, and decks (weekly).
Sweep out, clean, and organize the three storage sheds (quarterly or as needed).
Blow off driveways and parking lots (as needed).
Steam clean carpets in guest rooms, dining room & meeting room carpets (once a year or a needed).
Level rough or sloping parts of the trails.
Clean out gutters on buildings (late November/early December).
Build pole building (cover) over water tanks for protection from the elements & vandals.
Put up chain link fence by Retreat Director’s residence.
BY AREAS
Mow and pull weeds, plant and prune flowers in the Sacred Grotto area.
Mow and pull weeds, plant, prune and water flowers in the Marian Shrine area.
Mow and pull weeds, plant, prune and water flowers in the St. Theresa Shrine area.
Mow and pull weeds, plant and prune flowers in the Stations of the Cross area.
Mow and pull weeds, plant, water and prune flowers in the Hermitage area.
Pull weeds, water, plant and prune flowers by the statue of Jesus and surrounding area.
Pull weeds, water, plant and prune flowers by the statue of St. Rita and surrounding area.
Work in newly-planned RV area (a trencher will need to be rented for this project).
Check and clean the hermitage (quarterly or after each time a guest uses it).
If you are an electrician, carpenter, plumber, painter, do dry wall repair, or are some other tradesperson and can offer your services, please let us know.
Check with Retreat Director as to other needed repairs or projects that need to be done.
ONCE ANY ONE-TIME PROJECTS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED, PLEASE LET THE RETREAT DIRECTOR KNOW SO WE CAN CROSS THEM OFF THE LIST.
THANK YOU!