It was a very busy winter for us... From October through May we went downtown every Saturday. In the fall, CrossRoads Church had a coat drive, and over the next month we distributed one hundred coats, to our friends. We helped each one find just the right size and style. Here's a note I pasted on Facebook after one of the days:
"We had a great morning, distributing some of the coats that Crossroads Church collected. It started snowing mid-morning, so there was a bit of a sense of urgency among our friends.
We also ran out of underwear and socks. If you get a chance, think about picking up an extra pair next time you're at Target (Walmart, etc...).
Thanks to a very generous donation of 3 litre thermos pots from a ladies' Bible study group (thanks Sue!) we will be able to serve hot chocolate! This is a real treat, as hot chocolate isn't available in the shelters.
And please remember to pray for the safety of the people that will be sleeping in the shelters, and for the people camping by the river. "
"A good morning talking to people... some families came over to see what we were doing, and we had some good discussions. Aloa, long-johns, Goldbond powder (in small sizes) ladies hygiene packs and men's medium underwear are the particular requests we had today. Thanks so much for the recent donations! "
"We had a very busy morning! We served hot chocolate, and ran out of hot water early on. Hopefully we will have extra air pots next week. We had Christmas treat bags (all gone), socks (all gone), mitts and hats (mostly gone), underwear and hygiene packs. We have now given away _almost all_ the coats donated by CrossRoads Church (thanks Lisa 'Wolterstorff' Adams for facilitating that!) in Woodbury. Those coats are particularly appreciated - people still have lightweight jackets on and the cold is coming.
The neat thing is that people are now waiting for us to show up, and help us get set up. Some come by just to say "hi" as they remember us from previous weeks. We had a number of good conversations as well. One fellow that writes a blog about Saint Paul interviewed us and took some pictures. I'll post a link when he posts something.
We're getting geared up for next weekend (yes, we're going down on Christmas Eve day). The folks dowtown are very thankful for all your donations; if you're so moved, let me know if you have anything to donate before next weekend; I'm taking some time off work, and can come by and pick anything up."
"Here is the update for the year since our last update in January...
We've gone downtown most weekends until mid-April (we skipped the state hockey chamipionship weekend...).
Thanks to Undie Sunday at CrossRoads (1000s of pairs of underwear), the Hygiene weekend at The Alley (1000s of hygiene kits), and great support from Susan Morin's small group, the 20-somethings small group, CrossRoads Women's Ministry (all those fem. hygiene products!), (and others that prefer anonymity), we were able to meet many of the practical needs of the people on the street in St Paul. Some really good conversations as well... Thanks all for your support!
We are taking a break for the next few months, as what we've learned over the last 7 years is that the urgency that we be in the parks decreases..."
I'm having problems posting pics (or this site is having difficulty accepting them....). I'll post pics when it's working again...
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