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To the Editor:

I wanted to ask if you were interested in volunteering for a few hours for Code Blue this winter at Trinity Church. Essentially, when a Code Blue is called, Trinity Church is designated by Monmouth County to be an available warming center.

The church opens its gym doors to ensure community members stay warm and safe from 6 pm to 7 am on dry nights when the temperature falls below 28 degrees or below 32 degrees during inclement weather.

Trinity Church’s Parish Hall is a designated Code Blue warming center where folks experiencing homelessness or are with little or no heat can get a hot meal and take refuge.

Personally-speaking, I have found volunteering for Code Blue is not difficult at all and can be a very rewarding experience for those with limited time and bandwidth to serve our local community. Every evening, there are provided security vols and volunteer leaders to assist and answer any questions you may have.

Volunteer shifts are divided into 3 multiple-hour blocks – 6pm to 10pm, 10pm to 2am, 2am to 7am, as well as for an all-night volunteer shift if you have the whole night to spare. If you’d just like to help set up coffee and food at 6pm, there are available shifts for that as well. 

If you’d like to help out, even once to see if it’s something you’d like to continue doing in the future, click on this Google Doc link and enter your name and email to any available day/shift: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13ztbUhN7FXZ_vP2Ak_NWml9bZioHnd2wsSo37kJikXM/edit?usp=sharing.

Code Blue is sometimes called with only a few days’ notice, so please check your email regularly to see if your day is upcoming. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Jill Osis at jill@trinitynj.com or Derek Minno Bloom at derek@trinitynj.com.

Thanks again and I hope to see you at an upcoming Code Blue.

Joe Grillo

Cookman Avenue

[This letter represents the opinion of its writer and is not representative of any opinion of the Asbury Park Sun staff. All readers are welcome to submit Letters to the Editor via news@asburyparksun.com for our consideration. For guidelines on letter-writing and submission, click here.]

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