LIMA — It may not have seemed noteworthy on the surface — someone gave out a flower or a bag with toiletry items or paying for someone’s fast-food order — but an event held Saturday in downtown Lima aimed to help provide people with something that some sorely lack: Hope.
The Hope for the Homeless event is an outgrowth of the Be The Light Campaign, an organization started in 2015 to help fill the gaps for those in need that may be overlooked by traditional shelters.
“We focus on the importance of mental health and hope,” founder Melissa Syler said. “We do that through volunteer events and promoting random acts of kindness.”
On Saturday, Syler, along with volunteers from Putnam County, made their way to downtown Lima, gathering at Trinity United Methodist Church, to pass out canvas bags filled with clothes, snacks, toiletries and other essentials, along with cards and letters of encouragement and journals to give the homeless and those in need an outlet for their emotions, as well.
“We want to make people feel worthy,” Syler said. “We made 18 bags for the event.”
From Trinity, two groups dispersed, one going west and the other east, distributing bags and flowers and even offering to pay for orders for fast-food customers as a way of “paying it forward.”
“I saw videos of all events they had done and how they had touched people’s lives, and I decided I wanted to get involved and lend a hand,” volunteer and Putnam County dentist Dr. Shana Duling said. “We donated a bunch of toothbrushes and toothpaste, so that was something dear to our hearts.”
Although Duling does not live in Lima, she felt it important to take part in the event and be a good neighbor.
“We live on the outskirts, and we hear a lot about what the need is here,” she said. “I’ve talked with four of the homeless shelters around, and all of them agreed that the homeless population is increasing, especially families.”
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