Organizers for the emergency warming shelter that is set to open at First United Methodist Church's Family Life Center Friday at 4 p.m. issued a call Wednesday for snacks and drinks for those who visit the shelter.
Sally Carder shared a list of items on Facebook requesting individually wrapped snacks and packs of chips, cookies, large jars of dill pickles, soft drinks "with sugar," microwave popcorn and fruit like oranges, tangerines and bananas.
"We're also asking that any church or organization that would like to provide a meal to contact Trish (Nooner)," Carder said Tuesday. "Trish is in charge of our food this year. That's going to be a lot of breakfasts, a lot of dinners that we're going to need to offer. Jackson House is going to help us with lunches, but certainly if an organization or a church wanted to provide lunch, we'd love to have that as well."
Walmart gift cards in "any amount" are also needed for volunteers to purchase items as the need arises. Volunteers are still needed for the weekend and into next week.
"In Matthew 25, the Lord tells us right there and gives us an opportunity to be his hands and feet," Carder said. "He tells us in that chapter -- and I'm not going to quote it, I'm going to tell you to go read it -- but he tells us what to do. And that's what we're doing. But I'm going to tell you right now, it could be as easily be you or me or people in our family that are out there on the street. It could happen to each and every one of us, and that's why we feel it's very important to take care of those folks."
To sign up to volunteer, visit:
http://tinyurl.com/bdcj9um5.
Donations of food or Walmart cards can be delivered to the First United Methodist Church Family Life Center off Pratt Street any time after noon today or at any time Friday. For more information or for organizations to sign up to provide a meal, contact Nooner at 501-672-6299.
Donations can be made by visiting:
https://www.stlukeshs.org/give
Select "Warming/Cooling Shelter" from the drop-down menu.
"As always, we thank you in advance," Carder said in her Facebook post. "Our Community is the greatest!"