What drew you to Beautiful Day?
I liked the idea of getting the whole church out into the community to help those in need.
Tell us about your project.
Camp Coyote is a project to love the homeless community. We will be supplying hygiene/care packages, cleaning up a homeless encampment, providing a BBQ lunch and having a birthday celebration for the residents in the camp.
What attracts you to this one in particular?
My heart has always been tender for the homeless community. I remember when I was very young, I rode along with my mom and grandma one morning to pick up a bunch of pies for Thanksgiving. After our car was loaded with the pies, I remember driving past a homeless man and making my mom stop the car so we could give him one of our pies.
When I see a homeless person, my thoughts are not so much about why they're homeless or how they got there, but just on the fact that in front of me is someone who needs help -- and it breaks my heart every time. God blessed me with this abundant life and I want to use it to bless others.
What sorts of volunteers would you like or special needs do you have?
Any volunteer with compassion to help the less fortunate, willing to spend time with them and listen or to bring a smile or joy to a homeless person's day is needed. No special skills necessary!
If you could look into the future, what is the ideal result of your project?
I would love to see this Beautiful Day project turn into a long-term commitment where churches everywhere in the Bay Area "adopt" homeless encampments and not only continue what WestGate will be doing on this project, but team up with the County and City to help each homeless individual get their life back on track. This may include mentoring, helping an individual apply for basic things like an identification card or a job, or how to cook and do laundry.
Even if the individual is not ready to go down this road and chooses to stay homeless, I would love to see more churches be a part of the homeless community on a consistent basis, getting to know the people that live in the encampments and showing them that there is still hope through Christ and a God who still loves them so.
Kim Sherwood is a co-leader of the Camp Coyote project for Beautiful Day 2011. She has two children (and one on the way) with her husband Kent, who dutifully picks up Sour Patch Kids whenever she craves them.
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