Press release from ABCCM
With temperatures dropping into the upper 20s this weekend, ABCCM is mobilizing Code Purple Vans to help Buncombe County’s homeless residents stay safe and warm.
The mission of Code Purple is vital to the work of ABCCM. “Code Purple is a life-saving arm of the churches supporting ABCCM,” said ABCCM Executive Director Rev. Scott Rogers. “Since a homeless veteran froze to death on the streets in 1984, ABCCM has been committed to reaching out through our Code Purple vans to offer lifelines to the homeless. Thanks to the hundreds of volunteers and area churches, we will transport men and women to emergency shelters and ABCCM will provide shelter.”
As temperatures plummet, ABCCM needs volunteers to help out with Code Purple. “We need everyone’s help to provide coats, hats, gloves, blankets, as well as food for the homeless,” Rev. Rogers said. “The vans will visit homeless camps to deliver coats, hats, gloves, blankets, hand warmers, and food, and they will also pick people up from these camps and take them to emergency shelters. Many homeless people have no way of getting to the shelters. The Code Purple Vans remove this transportation obstacle. We also need volunteers to ride in the vans and distribute supplies.”
“When ABCCM is participating in Code Purple disaster relief, we are providing point of contact life-saving supplies to the homeless,” said Tim McElyea, ABCCM Director of Homeless Services. “The coats, blankets, food and other supplies delivered by our mobile crisis relief team are a necessity for the unsheltered during freezing temperatures. Volunteers are crucial in the delivery of these goods and services.”
To volunteer, please visit abccm.org., or call 828-259-5300.
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