Yvonne Olvera of Coeur d’Alene read my article about Ocean who sings and plays guitar and captivated homeless people one day at the Commons. Yvonne wanted to help with my 5th Annual Homeless Campout, so she generously donated her guitar to Ocean.

Many people made the campout a success this year. Father Roger of St. Pius Church provided a needed venue for the campout.

Ken, who sings like Willie Nelson, provided great music. Cliff provided firewood for our campfire. Aggie of The Altar Church and others like Mark and Sandy provided the food.

This is a connect event where generous members of our community met some of our homeless and they provided them with canned goods, blankets, sleeping bags and warm clothing.

I slept that night in my tent — just one night. Some of our homeless sleep outside constantly. My new dog, Bella, discovered for the first time that winter camping in a tent gets real cold. (My faithful white lab River went to heaven in June.)

The homeless were provided a meal that Dec. 5 night. The donations nearly filled a large covered trailer provided by Kevin of Cherished Ones Ministry; and we distributed our donations to Kevin, Fresh Start and the Commons.

Many thanks to all of you who made this event a success including Commercial Printing, The Coeur d’Alene Press and the Nickel’s Worth.

“What one man takes for granted, another man is praying for.” As I broke camp at 5 a.m. Saturday morning, and saw the full moon, I was thankful to God for the generous people who made this campout a huge success.

STEVE BELL

Coeur d’Alene