February 2018
2018 Winter Newsletter
Code Purple
Between Christmas and the first week of January, we broke a record we were not hoping to break by having 14 days in a row of Code Purple. We have had 18 total this winter so far in Wilmington and 20 in Newark at the time this newsletter was sent. A code purple occurs when the over night temperatures fall below 20 degrees. We are blessed to have so many volunteers join us every Code Purple to serve hot soup and offer friendly conversation. We serve more than 150 people between our two code purple locations each time. Thank you for your support in making this vital ministry possible.

To learn more, click the link below.

2017 marked Friendship House's 30th anniversary. Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us!
2017 also marked our Newark Empowerment Center's 10th anniversary. Thank you to the Newark community for making a difference.
Volunteers needed
Do you have a group of friends looking for a meaningful volunteer activity? The Clothing Bank of Delaware has a great opportunity for you. Our generous community has kept us busy with donations and we could use extra hands to help us sort and hang clothing. If interested in lending a hand contact Kathy at (302)652-1390 or email Clothingbank@aol.com
2018 Highmark Walk
The Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community will be held June 9th at Frawley Stadium and we hope you will join us! Teams are forming now and we need team captains and walkers. Contact Kay Preston at kaygp@aol.com or visit our website for more information!
The Sanford Second graders helped out at the clothing bank by collecting nearly 2,000 pounds of excellent quality clothing to distribute to the community. Our Clothing Bank director, Kathy, enjoyed speaking to the second graders about how their hard work positively benefits our community. We also enjoyed the Cooke Elementary fifth graders to our Clothing Bank for the second year in a row. Its amazing how many kids have made a difference in their community.
Service Spotlight
This January we were blessed with many great volunteer groups at our clothing bank. We also had and amazing turn out for our MLK clothing drive. One of these groups was the Serviam Girls who helped clean and organize our Wilmington Empowerment Center!
The Clothing Bank was blessed with more than 60 volunteers on Martin Luther King Day this year. Volunteers came from: Read Assist, the Tamman Group, Sanford School, Delaware Bar Association, JPMorganChase, the Hurtt Family and Amy and Colin. All day these amazing groups helped to sort, fold, hang, and bag nearly 20,000 pounds of clothing that will be distributed to individuals in New Castle County at no cost to the recipients. Thank you!
Our beloved Shirley Pritchett has retired from Friendship House after serving for almost 18 years. During her time with us, she has taught us many things including dedication, love, and grace.

Shirley, you are a true gift from God. We are a better organization after having you in our family. Thank you for these past 18 years. Below is a link to an article Shirley wrote last year reflecting on her time with Friendship House.

In addition to code purples in Wilmington and Newark, we have additional winter programming. From November through March, we start morning hospitality at our Wilmington Empowerment Center at 5:30. In addition, we host morning hospitality at First & Central every Saturday from 6:00 to 11:00 and on Sundays we are at Trinity Episcopal from 8:00 to 11:00 following our Sunday Breakfast at The Episcopal Church of Sts. Andrew and Matthew. Donating to Friendship House supports life-saving programs like our winter ministry.
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