Organized Effort To Help Homeless During Holidays Exceeds Goal

BERLIN – Neely James wasn’t surprised when her first grader told her he wanted to do something for someone else this Christmas.

She was thrilled to know they were thinking along the same lines. With the help of her son, Reed, the owner of Mother’s Cantina launched a community-wide effort to fill backpacks with supplies for the homeless.

“We decided it was the right thing to do to help people,” James said.

On Dec. 21, James and a number of volunteers from throughout the community gathered at Urban Nectar in Berlin to put the hundreds of supplies that were collected during the past two weeks into backpacks for the area’s homeless. Items packed up ranged from blankets and toiletries to art supplies.

James said donations of items poured in after she advertised her effort at Mother’s Cantina and her friends at Urban Nectar did the same at the Berlin shop.

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