Talk of the Town - Bag it November 20 2002

Autumn’s in the air, and you think you’re chilled to the bone? Needless to say, Atlanta’s 50,000 homeless are gonna be cold. But thanks to Project Silent Night 2002 and its goal to distribute at least 300 sleeping bags to the homeless, many will be a little warmer.

“Our goal is to provide the homeless the things that we think they need,” says Marcus Smith, director of operations for the project. “By going and buying the things for them, we can assure that they actually get and use them.”

Silent Night volunteers distribute the sleeping bags throughout the downtown area, in parks, under bridges and along streets.

“For the most part, people are really thankful,” says Smith. “They are just happy that someone took the time out of their day to try and make their life better.”

Project Silent Night is working in collaboration with the Eagle’s Nest Homeless Outreach program to ensure correct distribution of the sleeping bags. Smith is confident the Nest has the street smarts needed to locate the most needy homeless folks. That way, more people should have a silent, warmer night.

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Sleeping bags will be distributed Nov. 22, Dec. 21 and Jan. 11. For more information, contact Marcus Smith, 678-592-0438, or Kendall Hallman, 770-912-0489.??