Celebrating MLK Day: WFWP Elizabeth supports a homeless shelter
Every third Monday of January, the nation celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through a federal holiday known as MLK Day. It is also recognized as a national day of service, encouraging all Americans to volunteer and serve their local communities through a variety of service projects.
In support of this, the WFWP Elizabeth New Jersey chapter, in cooperation with the Elizabeth Family Church, initiated a coat drive to help homeless people in the city. More than 100 pairs of winter socks, gloves, hats and scarves and dozens of winter coats for adults and children were donated to The Elizabeth Coalition to House the Homeless in Elizabeth City.
The project started with a Coat Drive two weeks prior, where used and new winter coats were collected from Clifton and Elizabeth churches. However, we found out that the shelter was also in need of food. As a result, a three-day fundraising initiative on Facebook with a $200 goal was started to expand the project to a food drive and people responded with much generosity and great enthusiasm. A total of $260 was collected to buy groceries and additional winter accessories.
Ms. Sheila Casey, the administrator of the shelter, received the donations with a grateful heart and said that the donations would help many families, including 36 school-aged children who are in some of their programs. We also found out that there are other volunteer opportunities available such as tutoring, cooking, and more. You can find out more at this link: https://www.theelizabethcoalition.org/programs.
The Elizabeth Coalition to House the Homeless’ mission is to help those who are homeless and near homeless by giving them the tools and support they need to live healthy, self-sufficient lives and we were happy to be able to support that mission through this service project, thanks to our generous donors.
In turn, they got to know who we are as we testified about the work of Father and Mother Moon, the founders of the organizations that sponsored the project. We are also delighted that our local initiative, WFWP Girls, has found another organization to partner with in the near future.
