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Our Life
Member Spotlight is on...
Gerry McLaughlin from the Fort Pitt Chapter
On a cold winter evening 14 years ago, a high school friend named Ed
suggested that Gerry and her husband take their unused blankets and coats
and a couple dozen sandwiches to Market Square in Pittsburgh. Ed, who had
been homeless himself for about a year, knew how desperate his homeless
buddies were in these conditions. After that first delivery and
conversations with the men and women who so desperately needed food and
clothing, Gerry and her husband solicited support from the Fort Pitt
Chapter.
The chapter now works with Operation Save A Life, Jubilee Kitchen, and
Operation Safety Net to provide the homeless with necessary day-to-day
products. The most notable project has been the collection of h hotel
toiletries from traveling Verizon employees, families, and friends. The
donated soap, shampoo, and lotion are combined with purchased items (a
washcloth, comb, razor, toothbrush and toothpaste) and placed in a
zip-lock baggie. About 200 of these kits are prepared every month (more
during the winter months) and delivered to these organizations. Kits are
prepared by volunteers at the Pioneer Office in Pittsburgh and at Saints
Peter & Paul Church in Wilmerding, PA. To date, chapter members have
distributed more than 35,000 of these toiletry kits!
The Fort Pitt Chapter, along with St. Bernadette's Church in Monroeville
PA, organizes a clothing drive during September to get a head start on
clothing, coat, and blanket collections for the winter shelters. The
community very generously contributes new and used items for distribution
to Operation Safety Net, the traveling medical van at Mercy Hospital.
This article is from the Verizon Communicator honoring our own Gerry
McLaughlin. CONGRATULATIONS!
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