Sleepless San Diego . . .
Continued from page 1
be working. It seems he’s always working, but then again San Diego’s homeless problem is a 24/7 job. As the director of the San Diego Rescue Mission, homelessness is his driving passion, and “a sad testimony in a town with so much wealth — that many people are on the street,” he notes, his strength and conviction evident as he continues. “And demand is going up because a lot of people (more than 40% of which are kids, he emphasizes) have fallen on hard times. A lot of families were making it on part-time jobs, three or four different jobs in some cases. When they lost one of those jobs — even the fast food business is off — maybe a couple of the jobs, then they can’t pay the rent. Many of these homeless are invisible because they find a place with family or friends, or they’re living in their
car, maybe they move from motel to motel, but eventually they wear out their welcome or they just can’t make enough, and they have no place to go. These are the working poor without a home.” These are the people who benefit from the money raised by the Sleepless San Diego event, the ones the San Diego Rescue Mission is dedicated to help — to save. At 6 p.m. on April 24, Diane Thomas will
use her management skills and experience to make sure all Sleepless volunteers have been fed, the trash picked up, and answers ready for the hundreds of participants who have spent weeks and months enlisting the help of others to pledge their financial support for the event. She is involved with Sleepless because of her volunteering at the Rescue Mission itself, “serving holiday meals and becoming aware of the people
who are homeless. A lot of people are not aware of how many people in San Diego are homeless. Unless you get involved, they can fall through the woodwork.” She is awed by how important small items are, toiletries most of us take for granted, to those without a home. At 6 p.m. on April 24, Anita Poellnitz
will pay homage to those whose life on the street ended badly. She will stand before a display of shoes, each pair signifying an individual who died while homeless. There will be too many shoes. “They’re all around,” she recalls, describing her first year, last year, attending the Sleepless event “and they really got to me. I was very moved to realize these people have been lost.” She will renew her commitment to help, because “there is nothing so fulfilling as standing up for those who don’t know
CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
GATEWAY
Meeting at theHOLIDAY INN
San Diego-Mission Valley, 3805 Murphy Canyon Rd.
Sundays, 10 AM • Call 619-266-1490
www.gatewaychrist.org
sd April 2010 — Good News, etc. — 3
how, or can’t stand up for themselves. So, where will you be at 6 p.m. on April
24? Maybe you should be one of the hundreds of San Diegans who will forgo one glorious sunset in Paradise to build a cardboard shelter, sleep under the stars and commit themselves — and the dollars they raise — to helping others for whom homelessness is not an event, but their life. And maybe next year, just maybe, there will be fewer shoes. For more information, sponsorship forms
and educational materials on Sleepless San Diego and homelessness in our area, go to
www.sleeplesssandiego.org.
o
ssmith@tamarismedia.com.
John 19:30 - “It is FINISHED!”
Pastor Lou Wilburn
extends a very special invitation to you and your family to join us Easter Sunday at 10 a.m.
for a dynamic and moving time of WORSHIP as celebrate
the Resurrection of Our Savior Jesus Christ.
SPECIAL EVENT:We are going to rock this city for JESUS!!! Gateway & Wordical Productions have teamed up to present a City Wide Youth Concert ~ THE KINGDOM’S GOT TALENT GOSPEL CONCERT on SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 6-10 p.m. at the Holiday Inn, 3805 Murphy Canyon Rd., San Diego. For more information or to be involved please contact:
JaqandtheBible@aol.com or Wordical Productions, Kathy Sharpe, (858) 220-9293.
Wednesday
Midweek Services Two locations:
South Bible Study Group, 7 p.m. 812 S. 47th St., San Diego,
Pastor Sam Whitley, 619-857-2788
North Bible Study Group, 7 p.m. 2662 Rosehill Rd., Escondido,
Pastor Lou Wilburn, 760-504-2272
www.gatewaychrist.org
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