BRATTLEBORO — On behalf of the Brattleboro Area Drop In Center staff, board, clients of the Overflow Shelter, and myself, I thank all the volunteers who staffed the shelter.
I am beholden to all of you for answering my desperate calls and e-mails when I was looking for people who could cover shifts that had been left open because of weather or other circumstances. Without all of your support, the Overflow Shelter would not have survived the winter.
The final numbers are as follows:
• We served 114 different people, and only one child, for one night, a 17.5-percent decline over the previous year's figures.
• We provided 2,517 bed nights, which is down 12 percent over 2009-2010.
• We served, between dinner and breakfast, more than 5,034 meals.
• We had 21 folks when we closed on April 16. Fourteen went to tents; four of them will have housing come May. Four went to live in cars; three will have housing in May. Three are couch surfing; one will have housing in May.
We also thank the whole community for its ongoing support.
I hope to see all of our volunteers again next winter. If you would like to be added to the list of volunteers for next winter, please e-mail me at overflow.bratt@yahoo.com.