Christmas 2013 was a very special time for the residents and guests that we serve. Thanks to your support, we were able to provide them with good food, a warm place to stay, and Christmas presents for many.
At our Burnside Shelter, one very generous donor provided us with food to serve a special prime rib dinner for everyone who came through our door. As usual, we also offered warm shelter and hot showers for many. On Christmas Day, we held a special service for our Link residents that was followed by a gift giving. Afterwards, we served food, played games, and then headed outside to play some football!
Over on the east side, we were blessed by several generous donations that helped make Christmas very memorable for the residents in our year-long New Life Ministry at Shepherd’s Door and The Harbor. Thanks to generous supporters like yourself, every single item on our residents’ 2013 Christmas Wish List was purchased and delivered here to the Mission. Each item was specifically requested by a resident, and for them to unwrap these personal gifts on Christmas morning was really special.
In addition to the items from the wish list, we also received some big donations from Columbia Sportswear (hundreds of jackets) and MuseumTour.com (nine pallets of children’s toys). These donations blessed our guests downtown at Burnside as well as our residents at Shepherd’s Door and The Harbor. The kids at Shepherd’s Door also got a surprise visit from Santa, who brought toys for them and brightened everyone’s spirit as they watched the children interact with him.
Thank you again for helping make Christmas such a special time here at the Mission. Because of their painful pasts, the holiday season can be especially rough for the people we serve. Many of our guests – such as Doug, Sarah and Tiffany – haven’t had a joyful Christmas in a long, long time. And for some, this past Christmas was their first happy holiday experience ever. Thank you for making 2013’s holiday season so special for people here in Portland that otherwise wouldn’t get to participate in the love, peace, and joy that they experienced this past year.