CAMDEN — A local church group collected nearly 500 non-perishable food items for Knox County Homeless Coalition (KCHC) during their annual outreach week.

Members of The Pursuit Church in Rockland, along with a visiting group from a church in Alabama, held their annual community love, outreach event the week of July 23 through July 27 with a variety of activities from Thomaston to Camden; washing windows of downtown buildings, collecting and assembling school supplies for students in Cushing and South School, and delivering cookies or coffee and donuts to different offices. This year after meeting some of the KCHC case management and shelter staff Pastor William Galloway felt compelled to promote a community-wide can drive to support the work being done at Knox County Homeless Coalition. On the afternoon of, July 26, team after team pulled into the parking lot at the KCHC Rockport campus and began unloading their vehicles while carefully eyeing each other's loads — good-hearted competition for a good cause.

"It takes a village more than ever these days and we are so blessed by so many community organizations that step up to help in any way they can. From food deliveries to furniture donations, to volunteers who donate their time and efforts to help one-on-one with the clients we serve, the people of the Mid-coast have generous hearts" said Becca Gildred, Development Director of KCHC.

"I, like most people had no idea how vast an organization Knox County Homeless Coalition was or how many programs they were running to help the people of this area. When I originally reached out to them, I was thinking just about Hospitality House but they have a donation center, food pantry, shelter, transportation, teen center, case managers, you name it, all pieces of the puzzle that help people successfully navigate the path toward sustainable housing and independence" remarked Galloway.

To find out more about how you can make a difference with those who are homeless in our area, contact the Knox County Homeless Coalition at 207-593-8151 or info@homehelphope.org. For more information about The Pursuit Church visit thepursuitmaine.com.