Nick McWilliams reporting – Following a hiatus due to COVID, the youth group at St. John’s United Church of Christ will spend a night outdoors to raise awareness for homelessness.

Members of the church will stage a fire and cardboard boxes in front of the church in Dover Saturday evening into Sunday morning to bring attention to the issue of homelessness within Dover and the surrounding area.

This marks the 16th year the church has put on the event.

In a release, Director of Christian Education Belinda Lentz says that the event can also bring attention to the ongoing conversations related to the construction of a new homeless shelter for Tuscarawas County.

Interested residents can stop by the church while the youth group is staged out front and drop off blankets, food, cleaning supplies, and personal toiletries, along with money, to be donated to address homelessness.

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