Davenport Homeless shelter in need of Volunteers - CBS4 - WHBF Quad Cities, IL-IA News Weather Sports

Davenport Homeless shelter in need of Volunteers

By: Christine Souders

csouders@cbs4qc.com

As the temps drop, the need goes up for an area homeless shelter. King's Harvest needs your help, helping others.

Starting December 1st, King's Harvest in Davenport opens the overflow shelter and welcomes on average 50 to 60 people a night, but right now they are in need of volunteers or they won't be able to open their doors. Which means more of the homeless will have to sleep outdoors during the cold, winter nights.

"All these other shelters are so full, all the time, especially during the winter time. They're full to capacity and there's no place for people to go," said Maggie Reed, a Shelter Coordinator.

King's Harvest is hoping to add 30 more volunteers to their staff before the overflow shelter opens, and Coordinator Maggie Reed says she's concerned, the homeless will suffer, if volunteers don't sign up, "We would not be able to even open our doors if we didn't have enough volunteers and we say hey this place is for you. How many people does that put out on the street who could freeze to death in the winter time if we could not open? volunteers are very, very, very important."

The overflow shelter opens every night at 9 o'clock during the cold months, but in order to run it, at least 7 workers are needed to check in the homeless searching for a place to lay their head.

"We need more people because more people are coming in who need services, they need to find a warm place to stay and it takes a lot of people to process them, get them comfortable, put them where they need to be and not only in the early hours but all night long."

And Maggie Reed says it's rewarding to know you're helping those in need, "I don't think we've had a day go by that someone hasn't been grateful for something that a volunteer has done here and it makes us feel good."

Volunteers can sign up at King's Harvest, Wednesday at 7PM. The meeting will be held to talk about the training and hours needing to be filled. If you can't make the meeting you can call 309-236-2547 or click on the link: http://www.kingsharvest.net/Pages/default.aspx