Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Save Davidson collects donated items for MLK "Day On"


The Save Davidson community activist group conducted a donation drive over the MLK holiday weekend to collect cold weather items and books.  Starting with an ambitious goal of 100 coats, 100 blankets, 100 socks, and 100 books, items were collected in front of Town Hall.   Items piled up quickly over the weekend requiring multiple trips to collect it all.






Showing the generosity of the community, as of Tuesday morning here are the totals so far.  Due to the positive response, the drive has been extended through Friday.


aShortChronicle reached out to Save Davidson to get the background on the effort.  Here's what the group had to say.

After learning that the Town of Davidson historically does not observe MLK Day in an official way; Mayor Rusty Knox challenged himself and the board to plan something next year and further stated that “citizens should treat the day as a 'Day On' vs. 'Day Off.' This inspired Save Davidson leadership to support the new Mayor and Board by doing what they do best; springing into action to draw from their base and organize a town-wide coat, blanket, sock and book drive. The group's response was swift and overwhelmingly generous. Together, Save Davidson members along with Davidson, Cornelius, Huntersville and Mooresville residents shattered the original goal of 100 of each item needed. Because the need is so great and donors so willing, Save Davidson has extended collections at Davidson Town Hall to Friday 1/19 at 8 p.m. 

Donated items are being collected and delivered all week long to the following organizations that support the homeless in our area:
  • Urban Ministries
  • Bella’s Books
  • Room at the Inn (DCPC)
  • Saint Maximilian Kolbe Fraternal Secular Franciscans @ Saint Mark
Donations are greatly appreciated and Save Davidson members are excited about opportunities to partner with the town on community initiatives that support Davidson residents.

As examples of how the items will be put to good use getting directly to those in need, many of the socks will be going to DCPC's Room in the Inn program to be distributed to guests.  aShortChronicle recently told readers about this program to provide additional shelter during the winter months.  See article here.  Many of the other items will be distributed directly to the homeless via the effort at St Marks.  According to Steve Miller who volunteers with that effort, the St. Maximilian Kolbe Fraternity Secular Franciscans @ St. Marks takes "donations of winter clothing and sleeping bags and takes them directly to the people on the street who need it the most. Some of these people -for whatever reason- cannot go to shelters, and we can be the difference between a comfortable night and a very cold one."

With many more cold nights ahead this winter, it's great to see people coming together like this to make a difference.

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