‘Warm the Night’: Warming Shelter holds kick-off at new location

Saturday’s auction will feature desserts, wine, live music, free childcare, and a fun prize for the group or individual raising the most money from their donated services. Friends of the Warming Shelter have donated such services as help with home or garden projects, recreational fun and tours, skill-building lessons, pet care, and catering.

There will also be a Shelter Store where you can purchase items that are needed in the shelter (socks, gloves, oatmeal, soup, etc.). Financial donations are welcome, though the program cannot accept donated food or clothes.

For those who attended a training in September or October, be prepared to sign up for a shift when Andy Wade, volunteer coordinator, sends out the schedule.

The shelter is a coalition of community members representing service providers, nonprofits, faith-based communities and local government to ensure that homeless people have warm and safe shelter during the winter. For general information contact Rev. Anna Carmichael at revannacarmichael@gmail.com.

This year the shelter launches “Laundry Love”: teams of three or four people to serve a minimum of one afternoon a month meeting shelter guests at Eco Laundry and assisting with laundry.

Carmichael, of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, is the shelter’s administrative lead. The kickoff auction is being organized by the Mid-Columbia Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

The shelter is chartered under the umbrella of Gorge Ecumenical Ministries (GEM), a coalition of Gorge churches, but participation is not limited to GEM member-churches.

The shelter respects the dignity of all humans, especially those who are homeless. It aims to create a space that is physically and emotionally safe for all, regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

For further information, call Fran Finney, the auction’s organizer, at 541-345-1112.