It was two years ago this December that Jerry Allen Grimm froze to death at Riverside Park in Centralia while attempting to weather another frosty night out in the elements.
I was baptized formally into my Christian faith in the same river years before — just steps from where Grimm took his last breaths. I found this personally very jarring. I didn’t know Grimm, but his death left me saddened and frustrated. Deaths due to exposure are preventable deaths.
While we do have incredible emergency shelter organizations, I remain concerned for those who — for whatever reason — cannot access a local shelter.
I thought for a long time about what I, personally, could do to reduce these types of needless fatalities and how I could leverage my platform. I wanted to find something economical, but effective, that I could contribute. My thought process took me back to sixth grade outdoor education camp: Emergency thermal blankets.
Often in western Washington, the struggle isn’t just to stay warm — it’s to stay dry. Thermal blankets, generally made of polyester film mylar, can help trap heat while also creating a moisture barrier over clothing, blankets and even cut up into pieces inside of gloves and shoes, helping protect skin and extremities from the elements.
That same winter, in Grimm’s honor, I began collecting and distributing mylar blankets to local organizations that assist homeless and other populations vulnerable to late fall and winter elements. It started small, with Chronicle staff giving out blankets to those who would sleep overnight on the front steps of the Chronicle building.
Eventually, the effort expanded into my column space, asking readers to send blankets to us.
In our first year, we distributed 1,400 blankets to over a dozen organizations. Last year, we distributed 700 blankets. I would love to see another 1,000 blankets go out this year. Despite no longer being formally employed by The Chronicle, Publisher Michael Wagar has graciously agreed to continue to partner with me on this effort.
Over the past two years, I’ve spoken to staff and volunteers at the Lewis County Gospel Mission, Gather Church & Gather Cafe, the Hub City Mission and Open Arms — the mylar blankets are very much appreciated. Even paramedics with various departments we’ve distributed to — Riverside, AMR, Chehalis — all of them have commented on the simple gesture.
I just ordered another batch of blankets myself. Currently on Amazon.com, there is a bulk pack of 50 blankets available for about $24 and free shipping. That’s about 50 cents per blanket. About 50 cents to maybe save a life or at least make someone’s path just a little bit less dangerous. There are other options, including single blankets to packs of five, ten, twenty on up.
When you order, you can set up your Amazon order to deliver directly to The Chronicle, ATTN: Blankets at 321 North Pearl Street, Centralia, WA 98531. From there, the front desk staff will contact me directly, and I make a blanket run directly to local organizations.
You can also purchase blankets locally at Sunbirds and drop them off at The Chronicle, keep a few in your car for emergency distribution, or feel free to distribute them to organizations yourself.
This would be an incredible avenue for smaller or more rural churches, who aren’t able to offer more formal shelter services, an avenue to show compassion and empathy for homeless members of their communities.
Over the past two years that we’ve coordinated this effort, I’ve used my column space to take readers inside of some of the organizations that we distributed blankets to, telling stories from volunteers and staff and giving first-person accounts and looks into how these organizations are giving back to housing-challenged members of the community.
From that have come some really interesting stories, like that of Lenny and the scenes from the Lewis County Gospel Mission that would break even the toughest and steeliest of hearts.
I’d really like to continue that theme this year — both in an effort to promote these organizations and the ongoing blanket drive over the next couple of months. I’ve already floated the idea of spending the night at the cold weather shelter at the fairgrounds to give a first-person account of what that looks and feels like past the publisher. In years past, I’ve been more than a little critical of the decision to move the cold weather shelter to the fairgrounds without increased options for transportation, so that seemed a good (and fair) place to start.
I’m also really interested in the group of people that congregate under the State Route 6 bridge headed west from Chehalis. I’ve heard the fire department called on that group more times than I can count, due to passersby thinking the smoke from their cooking fires meant the bridge itself was on fire.
But I’m also interested in what you, the readers, want to know about these organizations. What questions do you have for our local nonprofits that work with homeless populations? Drop me a line and let me know. I’d love to answer your questions by going directly to the sources.
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Brittany Voie is a columnist for The Chronicle. She lives south of Chehalis with her husband and two young sons. She welcomes correspondence from the community at voiedevelopment@comcast.net.
