‘We are called to love our neighbors:’ Reading Resident Bob Baynes Spreading Love Through Service

Reading resident Bob Baynes has been supporting Catholic Charities Boston since he was a young man.

“I started donating years back to Catholic Charities through United Way,” he said. “I always knew of the good work the organization does and trusted them.”

What Bob didn’t know is that in the second half of his life, after retiring from a longtime career in the insurance industry, Catholic Charities Boston would lead him to find a newfound sense of meaning and purpose giving back to his community.

Thanks to a webinar hosted by the Archdiocese of Boston in 2021, Bob learned that Catholic Charities was developing an online portal to streamline the process of engaging volunteers.

Bob stepped up to help and the rest is history; he quickly became an integral member of the volunteer team, reaching out to vendors, researching other volunteer-engagement platforms, and helping to bring the finished product, which today is known as Catholic Charities Boston’s Get Connected portal, to life.

His contribution to the agency did not end there, however. When the Lynn Food Pantry launched in 2022, Bob decided to get involved as a pantry volunteer, knowing that food insecurity was a critical issue that thousands of families across Massachusetts were facing every day. Since then, he has served at the pantry at least twice a week, every week.

While much of the work is straightforward and often physical – stocking shelves, bagging food, unloading trucks – Bob says what is most rewarding is the relationships he’s been able to forge with clients in the community, staff members, and other volunteers along the way.

“I’ve gotten to know people I never would have met otherwise and hear their stories,” he said. “We’ve built relationships over time.”

As much as Bob is helping Catholic Charities’ clients, he feels that they are helping him, deepening his faith, his sense of perspective, and his understanding of what matters most.

“There is nothing more eye-opening than when you see people’s faces light up when we get good stuff in at the pantry,” he said. “You’d think you’d have given them a million dollars when they get a brand-new box of fresh, quality strawberries. People are so appreciative.”

As a lifelong Catholic and longtime member of the Reading Knights of Columbus, Bob says Catholic Charities Boston has helped him to put his faith into action.

“The pantry is not a place where we proselytize or evangelize, but Jesus calls us to love our neighbors and helping people who wouldn’t otherwise have food is a way to do that.”

To learn more about volunteer opportunities at Catholic Charities Boston, visit our Volunteer page. For other ways to support the agency, visit our Ways to Give page.