Winter is in full force throughout the country. It is unbelievable the trouble they are having in Texas as they are going multiple days without power and many need to boil their water before drinking it. It has struck here as well, as each week we seem to be getting a few more inches of snow. I am continually grateful that I have a warm house and plenty of clothes to keep warm and can live a life that is fairly unaffected by the weather.
That is not the case for many people. Just this morning, I received an email that the warming shelter in Dover is in dire need for volunteers. Below is a portion of that email.
It seems that there are only a handful of folks who are volunteering and providing breakfast-to-go bags as well as donate and deliver snacks for the Center. I can only imagine that the word is not getting out as surely there are many more members of our faith community that can spare a small block of time to assist the limited staff that CAP is able to provide during the hours of operation.
They need volunteers to be there from 4 PM to 8 PM, then from 8 to midnight, then from midnight to 6 AM and finally from 6 to nine. They also need about 40 breakfast bags donated and delivered each morning that the center is open and they need to be there to hand them out at 7:30 AM.
Please pass on the link where they can find the schedule and who has volunteered for each of these slots and they can simply put in their name, email, phone number, and the shift they will be there. Another link of the site will tell people what has been donated for breakfast-to-go and what is still needed and a third link will show what snacks they need and what has been donated and what is still needed.
Thank you for all you do for the homeless in our community and I sincerely hope some of the leaders of the various faiths will publicize this to their congregations and put out the invitation to help. This is a wonderful way to perform a work of mercy in sheltering the poor during Lent.
Here is the link for in-person volunteers https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090a4ea5aa2fa4fc1-warming7
Here are the two links for providing food https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090A4EA5AA2FA4FC1-warming5
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090A4EA5AA2FA4FC1-warming6
To learn more about the warming shelter please visit this site from the city of Dover.
https://www.dover.nh.gov/services/warming-and-cooling-centers.html
Thanks for your prayerful consideration in helping out in this way.
Pastor Tim