Church Women United participants Fay Martin (from left), Gay Marie Logsdon, Clara Chambles, Carolyn Mayes, Goldie Kennedy, and Laura Robbins encourage individuals, organizations, and churches to collect blankets and donations in support of the 2015 Blankets+ Campaign. (Submitted photo)
Church Women United in Oak Ridge invites area individuals, organizations, and church groups to join its spring 2015 Blankets+ Campaign benefiting disaster victims locally and worldwide. People are asked to support the campaign in two ways: by collecting bedding for Ecumenical Storehouse in Oak Ridge and by collecting cash donations for CWU to send to the Blankets+ Program managed by Church World Services.
Ecumenical Storehouse serves displaced individuals and families from Anderson, Campbell, Morgan, Roane, and Scott counties who have lost their homes because of fire, flood, or other emergencies and have been referred to the storehouse for support in setting up a new household. The storehouse offers basics such as bedding, towels, dishes, and furniture regardless of the client’s color, race, faith, gender, or handicap. Ecumenical Storehouse is located at 134 East Division Road in Oak Ridge and can be contacted at (865) 481-0274.
The Blankets+ Program is a cooperative ministry of 37 Christian denominations, providing blankets, food, shelter, and emergency medical supplies in the immediate aftermath of disaster in the United States and abroad. The program fosters self-sufficiency and long-term recovery by providing tools, training, and other support regardless of race, faith, gender, handicap, or ethnic background.
In recent years, for example, the Blankets+ Program served victims of severe flooding and wildfires in Colorado and families suffering the ravages of Hurricane Sandy. The program also provided blankets to the homeless and economically disadvantaged in areas from California to Maine. Outside the United States, the Blankets+ Program has worked with communities in Uganda, Haiti, Moldova, and Gran Chaco in South America—to name a few—to improve water resources, hygiene, sanitation, agriculture, and education. It has also provided microloans, seeds, and farm animals to individuals to develop a means to support their families.
If you or your organization would like to support the Blankets+ Program, please contact the president of Church Women United in Oak Ridge by calling (865) 483-7940. Information packets are available for use in organizing group collections.
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