On Saturday 28 April, in the RDS in Dublin, the World Meeting of Families marked a volunteering milestone as they welcomed their 2,500th volunteer for the upcoming international event. The gathering in the RDS saw more than 800 volunteers from across Ireland continue their training for the ninth World Meeting of Families which will take place from 21 – 26 August in Dublin.
The 2,500th volunteer was identified as Jinny Malazarte from Drimnagh, Co Dublin. Jinny signed-up as a volunteer alongside his wife Ressurecion, but Jinny was identified as volunteer number 2,500. Jinny, who is originally from the Philippines, has been living in Ireland for the past 17 years.
Speaking about his volunteer role with the WMOF2018, Jinny said, ‘As soon as I realised that the WMOF2018 was coming to Dublin, I was interested in volunteering for it. The preparations that go into an event like this are meticulous – the organisers have to think of everything including offering the famous Irish welcome to those who will come to Ireland for the event. I am looking forward to being part of welcoming the world to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families. I hope to be part of all the different events and to work with many of the volunteers that I have come to know these past weeks and months. It’s going to be a huge team effort.’
He continued ‘It has been really inspiring to see how many people are willing to make a contribution to an event like this – to just give of their time and talents. It’s going to be an amazing event for all those who attend and while I am going to be really busy as part of the volunteer team, I know that I am going to gain a once in a life time experience from it.’
Commenting on the volunteer milestone, Father Tim Bartlett, Secretary General of WMOF2018 said, ‘Our volunteers are at the front line of everything we will be offering at the WMOF2018 and we could not deliver an event like this without them. While we are delighted to have reached this particular milestone in our volunteering numbers, we will need thousands more volunteers to join us for the World Meeting of Families. We are inviting people to sign up now on www.worldmeeting2018.ie to be part of this historic event.’
The World Meeting of Families 2018 will take place from 21–26 August in Dublin on the theme, ‘The Gospel of the Family: Joy for the World’. Pope Francis confirmed that he will attend the World Meeting of Families during a presentation of the WMOF2018 Icon of the Holy Family in Rome in March.
For more information on WMOF2018, please see www.worldmeeting2018.ie.
