News

Collection offers help for area homeless people

By Joanne Flemming
Compass Correspondent

Catholics from northeastern Wisconsin are being invited to contribute personal hygiene and baby products to the "Help for the Homeless" collection going on through Thursday, March 29.

This is the first year that the drive has spread beyond Brown County to include the Fox Valley and Fond du Lac areas, said Br. Steve Herro, O.Praem., Green Bay Diocesan social concerns director.

The collection is sponsored by such businesses as Festival Foods, WFRV-TV and Christian Family Radio and such agencies as the Brown County Homeless and Housing Coalition and the Fox Valley Housing Coalition.

Products needed include bar soap, deodorant, toothpaste and toothbrushes, diapers and baby wipes. They can be dropped at some 50 points in Brown County alone, Br. Herro said.

Locations include all Brown County library branches, Festival Foods, St. Norbert Abbey and College and such parishes as Nativity, St. Agnes and St. Willebrord in Green Bay.

In the Fox Valley, drop-off points include Festival Foods and Christian bookstores.

Private companies also have drop-offs for their employees, Br. Herro said.

When the drive ends, items will be sorted and distributed to homeless shelters in the areas where they were collected. In Green Bay, the sorting point is Nativity Parish.

More information is available at the Brown County Homeless and Housing Coalition website, www.bchhc-wi.org.