The following is a summary of our experience with the Bags of Love project.

1. When we dropped the sleeping bags off it was very early in the morning, and with Covid there was no contact with the Staff. Therefore, we were not able to take any photos of the facility or the recipients.
2. The charity we donated to was Shelter Nova Scotia. This is the information about Shelter Nova Scotia taken from their website: “Shelter Nova Scotia supports people in times of crisis and transition through residential, trustee and outreach programs. To  this end, we operate six facilities in HRM, providing a night of rest to 106 people and providing support to hundreds more, 365 days a year. We offer far more than shelter; utilizing client and housing support workers in tandem with our colleagues working in mental health and addiction services, we support 1,300 people annually.”
3. This project brought up a lot of discussion within our ecclesia about how we may continue to support to our community practically and spiritually.
4. The Shelter staff informed us that the sleeping bags were greatly appreciated.  Upon speaking about this initiative with a sister in another province, she sent us a package of homemade face masks to give to the shelter, these also were appreciated. This is the email message we received from Shelter NS: “Hello Carol, Thank you so much. We are handing out the sleeping bags to those who are sleeping rough currently. Thank you so much for this gift. The masks also are  very useful.” Mandy Chapman Coordinator of Volunteers and Food Security Shelter Nova Scotia  2170 Barrington Street, Halifax, NS B3K 2W4
5. Spiritually, it is good to help others, both those in the ecclesia and those who do not know God:
   “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.  They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life” (1st Timothy 6:17-19).

We are not sure if there will be a further relationship with this charity, but we will look for opportunities to keep in contact with them.