Bay Area woman’s community service idea from 2012 grows to thousands of volunteers

By Sharon Chin

Thousands of people are volunteering in hundreds of community projects in three Bay Area counties, and it’s because of an idea a Los Altos woman had 14 years ago.

Jan McDaniel leads a small group of volunteers for a big week of community service. She began in 2012, when she and others set out to put their faith into action at Los Altos United Methodist Church.

“We had the expectation and desire to get people out to meet and to serve,” said McDaniel

They started with 300 people volunteering for half a day. The service projects are funded by congregants’ donations.

“We discovered that we had this unmet need for people who really wanted to get out and make this a more compassionate community,” McDaniel said.

She said the program had so many volunteers that it quickly evolved into an annual Compassion Week, with multiple churches and denominations.

From cooking hot meals to cleaning beaches, they engage in a wide variety of community service. There’s something for everyone.

People even volunteer from home or school: They can pick up raw materials to make fleece blankets, decorate grocery bags for meal deliveries, and paint designs on clothing to give to the unhoused.

For 10 days every October, more than 4,500 Compassion Week volunteers perform 275 service projects in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties.

“I think Compassion Week has become a movement. I don’t think it’s just a week,” McDaniel declared.

People often continue serving with dozens of partner nonprofits all year long.

On this morning, volunteers pack up notebooks, Bibles and cards that chaplains will share with people behind bars. McDaniel said Compassion Week has taught her a lot.

“We believe everyone’s our neighbor. If you are incarcerated, we think you’re our neighbor. If you are one who’s untraditionally housed, you’re our neighbor, too,” she said.

Volunteers Janice Maggiora and Donna Blink said McDaniel’s passion for people inspires their own joyful giving.

“People gravitate towards her that like that kind of energy, right? And so, most of the volunteers that we have are very willing to give back, give out, and have that loving spirit,” said Maggiora.

Blink added, “She has the ability to bring everybody together and make everybody feel like they’re the most important cog in the wheel.”

Although there many different service projects during Compassion Week, this year’s special theme is on teen mental health and serving immigrants.

Compassion Week began on Oct. 3 and ends Oct. 11.

So, for launching Compassion Week Los Altos, which gives volunteers a chance to serve their community, this week’s CBS News Bay Area ICON Award goes to Jan McDaniel.