He serves as the pastor of two Catholic churches in the diocese of Charlotte, N.C., and has been helping people in economically-distressed areas of North Carolina for 15 years. And now Rev. George Kloser is Catholic Charities USA's 2013 Volunteer of the Year. He's been involved in the Catholic Social Services Office of Economic Opportunity since it began in '98, hosting community meetings, mentoring families trying to overcome poverty, and raising over $250k through annual events he created.He beat out seven other volunteers for the honor, which has been given annually since 1998. The volunteer of the year is chosen from over 300,000 volunteers within the Catholic Charities network.

We once volunteered to pick up trash along a busy road. What was one of your first volunteer experiences? Tell Bisnow's Tania Anderson. We'll publish some of your responses.