New group offers young adults chance for volunteering

Catholic Young Professionals Service Organization launches in Little Rock

Published: May 2, 2015

By Aprille Hanson
Associate Editor

Aprille Hanson

Mairead Doherty (left) and Luke Stovall work the grill at the memorial Mayflower Rising event April 25 for last year’s deadly tornado. They volunteered as part of the new Catholic Young Professionals Service Organization.

Aprille Hanson

Luke Stovall, 29 and a member of the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock, noticed a gap when it comes to his generation and Church volunteer groups.

“I just knew a lot of people in their mid-20s, early 30s in the young professional age realm who wanted ways to use their abilities to serve others in the community,” Stovall said. He said he sees a “big gap” between high school organizations and church organizations with an older membership.

That gap is now filled, thanks to the diocese-approved Catholic Young Professionals Service Organization, started in March.

“That’s the whole goal of this — to get these people who have desires and talents under one roof,” Stovall said.

Stovall, along with his sister Jesse Bisbee and friends Justin Pedone and Evan Hennelly, founded the organization and serve as its administrators. The organization brings together young Catholic professionals to volunteer for various service projects the group decides to take on.

The idea came from his own experience with volunteering throughout the years, particularly for two years as a big brother for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arkansas. The little brother he was assigned to mentor had a rough start — both parents were incarcerated before he was 2 and he dealt with abuse.

“He saw more bad things before 5 years old than most people see in their entire lives,” Stovall said. “I still remain in touch with him. My experience and my thought are I hope I made as big an impact on his life as he did on mine.”

Stovall, a project development engineer for the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department, said he hopes to light that fire to volunteer in other young adults through this organization. There’s no age requirements, Stovall said, but is targeted to those 18 and older.

“We’re not necessarily looking to link ourselves with a single organization,” Stovall said. “If anyone in our group has an idea for a service project, we’ll set it up and make it happen.”

The organization’s first service project was at the Mayflower Rising event April 25. It was a community memorial for the one-year anniversary of the deadly tornado that destroyed parts of Mayflower and Vilonia. Volunteers from the Catholic organization helped set up and run parts of the event at the suggestion of Catholic Charities.

Though the group plans bigger flagship projects in the future, this event was “a good time to get the ball rolling,” Stovall said.

And the organization has already hit the ground running when it comes to volunteer projects.

“In May we will have a project with Habitat for Humanity kicking off … I’m really excited about it. It’s called the Pope Francis Project. It’s a joint venture to build a house for a Hispanic family near St. Theresa’s,” Stovall said. “We’ll start with the Arkansas Food Bank in June” to help with food distribution. The group will also take part in gleaning — collecting produce that’s still good on a farm but cannot be sold to donate to Arkansas Food Bank — in August.

Bisbee and Hennelly want to partner with Women in Transition, which helps formerly or currently incarcerated women learn skills to transition back into society with Sister Lee Ann McNally, RSM, at the helm. Bisbee, 31, said as an Arkansas Federal Credit Union manager, she would be able to assist the women in budgeting and interview skills.

“I interview people all the time, I know what managers are looking for,” said Bisbee, a member of the Cathedral.

Stovall said about 40 people have contacted him about getting involved and there is no specific time commitment. For example, if it’s a daylong project, a person can volunteer to come anytime, even for an hour or less, he said.

Stovall said he hopes more young Catholics decide to join.

“I feel like volunteering and serving others that is our faith,” Stovall said. “The six days and 23 hours a week that you’re not at Mass is where faith really happens.”

Those interested can e-mail Stovall at or join the Facebook group “Catholic Young Professionals Service Organization.”