Thursday, May 2, 2024
The Hidden Gem Family Center has begun a campaign to collect backpacks for the homeless within the local area.
The center has been working with several of the homeless in our community for a while now to figure out what the best way to help would be, and that is when they came up with backpacks for the homeless.
“We want to meet them where they are and offer that extra support, and, maybe in the future, they will see us as someone who they can trust to help them find a more permanent place,” Founder of Hidden Gem Jenny Featherston said.
Hidden Gem’s plan is to keep this as an ongoing program.
“If they need to come see us to refill their backpack, then that is a very small way we can show them we care,” Featherston said.
Featherston expressed that in Galatians 6:2 the Bible says to bear one another’s burdens, so that is what she has set out to do.
“If there is one thing about our community, it is that they love to help those in need,” Featherston said.
Items needed for the backpacks include large, used backpacks, sample size soaps, hand sanitizer, shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, small bag for hygiene items, a toothbrush, bottles of water, single-serve cups of soup, canned spaghetti, canned ravioli, canned beef stew, granola bars, small flashlights with batteries, towels, wash cloths, socks, a lightweight blanket, a comb, and a brush.
“It is but a small thing to be able to help someone in their time of need, but it could mean the world to them,” Featherston said.
Items can be dropped off at the Hidden Gem Family Center, which is located at 115 South 7th Street.
The center asks you to call before arrival to make sure that someone is available. Hidden Gem Family Center can be reached at 254-216-1813.
