NIGHT SHELTER MINISTRY
St. Oliver's Shelter Ministry Hosts those served by the Atlanta Men's Shelter during the winter months. St. Oliver volunteers assist the lead host in providing assistance for homeless men in the downtown area shelter one weekend a month during the fall and winter months (November through March). Primary responsibilities are to provide the main meal, prepare sandwiches for lunch (done at St. Oliver’s), interact with the guests in the shelter in a respectful manner, help with mealtime set up, serving and clean up and be available to assist the lead host. Several overnight volunteers are also needed for the weekends we volunteer.

Casseroles should be prepared in large turkey roasting size aluminum foil pans and delivered to the church by 3:00pm on the day of service to the shelter. Sandwich making takes place either the night before or the morning of the day of service to the shelter, if you sign up, you will be notified of preparation time.

We are required to be at the Shelter at 6:00pm on the day of service to warm up the food and serve the meal, usually leaving about 8:30pm. If you can help, please sign up on the poster in the lobby of the family center or on the board in the hallway off the Narthex. If you have any questions, please contact Ministry Head, Bill Hedges (404) 502-0264. Upcoming Shelter Volunteer dates will be announced in the bulletin.

The Christmas Giving Tree Program 
Each Christmas, St. Oliver’s Shelter Ministry and our St. Vincent de Paul Society sponsor the annual GIVING TREE. The St. Vincent de Paul Society assists area families who are unable to provide Christmas for their children; the Shelter Ministry provides for the needs of shelter families and the Men’s Shelter in Atlanta.

The tag tree will be up in the Narthex in the middle of November. Please stop by and pick up a tag or two. Each tag fills a specific need.  St. Vincent de Paul tags are the red and green stocking tags. All these gifts should be WRAPPED and returned to church by designated date.  Shelter gifts do not need to be wrapped (unless noted) and should be returned by the designated date. Both groups need to gather and sort the gifts to be sure they arrive at their destination prior to Christmas.

Thank you in advance for your faithful giving and your joyful witness in reaching out to these families and individuals. Questions for St. Vincent de Paul, Rick and Jan Nerone 770.982.3809, for the Shelter Ministry, Bill Hedges 404.502.0264.

ADOPT A FAMILY  Through our Adopt–A-Family (Secret Santa) program, we group St. Oliver’s Volunteers with shelter families to assist in the spirit of Christmas giving The volunteers will be given a ‘suggested’ wish list w/ toy suggestions and clothing sizes for the child that they wish to sponsor.

Even though the benefactors remain anonymous, the giving of Christmas joy to a child who might not otherwise be able to fully enjoy this season, is PRICELESS.  If you would like to assist in this ministry, please sign up on the bulletin board outside the narthex of the church or in the family center. For more information, please call Bill Hedges 404-502-0264.