St. Vincent de Paul volunteer connects through food

There are so many locals in Sonoma County that help make this a special place to live. The Press Democrat is highlighting some of these non-profit volunteers in our special Thanksgiving section this year.

To read about all of them go to www.pressdemocrat.com/specialsections/celebrations.

Dan Cahill's experience with volunteering has kind of snowballed. Things started off pretty slowly: His wife worked for St. Vincent de Paul, and she said they needed a driver on Sundays to help pick up groceries.

Seemed simple enough, Cahill thought, so he offered to help out.

That was 10 years ago. Now, he helps out about six hours a week as a chef, sometimes bringing his daughters with him to work extra hours on the weekends.

In addition to providing help for Sonoma County's needy, St. Vincent de Paul also provides something for Cahill, 47: a way to relieve stress after work.

As the head cook, Cahill is in charge of the kitchen, overseeing volunteers and planning out meal services.

Some volunteers want to be there; some are required to be, in the performance of community service.

'I have volunteers, or court-appointed people, cutting up garlic bread or whatever,' he said. 'Sometimes you'll have gang members, and so I'll make them cut onions, and then you're joking with them.'

Jim Kelly, the dining room manager, told the story of how one Christmas, Cahill came in with his family to serve the Christmas dinner. It turned out that in his spare time, Cahill and his family had been working to collect coats to bring in, too, to hand out to the homeless.

'It goes far above what normal volunteers do,' Kelly said.

According to its website, St. Vincent de Paul provides more than 90,000 meals to homeless and low-income people in Sonoma County every year, and volunteers like Cahill collectively spend more than 10,000 hours each year making that possible.

If the current trend in homelessness continues, that number will, hopefully, continue to decline.

According to the 2015 Sonoma County Homeless Census and Survey, there are 3,107 homeless people living in Sonoma County. That number is down 27 percent from the count in 2013, and shows a general downward trend in homelessness throughout the county.

It's organizations like St. Vincent de Paul, and volunteers like Cahill, that make that possible.

'He has been more involved than anybody,' Kelly said. 'He's always willing to help.'

You can reach Staff Writer Christi Warren at 521-5205 or christi.warren@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @SeaWarren.