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Ten Thousand Volunteers Sought To Pitch In During Pope's Visit to Philadelphia

By Mark Abrams

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's official: the World Meeting of Families organization is now recruiting thousands of volunteers to help with events surrounding the pope's visit and a big family conference in Philadelphia at the end of September.

Donna Farrell, executive director of the WMOF organization here, says the group is looking for at least 10,000 volunteers to commit to helping out at events in the city between September 22nd and 27th.

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(Donna Farrell, executive director of the 2015 World Meeting of Families, discusses the official launch of a volunteer recruiting campaign. Photo by Mark Abrams)

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Farrell says she's casting a wide net across the region:

"Philadelphia, New Jersey, Wilmington, Allentown, the rest of the Lehigh Valley, and welcome them -- we need them."

But, Farrell notes, there's no guarantee how close volunteers will get to Pope Francis.

"Proximity to the pope, that we don't know yet," she points out.  "For some people, they may be seeing him more on a Jumbotron than they are seeing him up close and personal."

Farrell says they're looking for people with a variety of skills, including those with social media experience, those who speak languages other than English, or just average folks looking to work as guest guides.

 

 

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