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West Newton Friends In Service -- Dan Burger

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We’re going to regularly share the work of one of West Newton Friends making a difference in our community. We’re all involved in different ways and sometimes we don’t realize the ministries we're doing in locally and around the world.

This article features the volunteer work of Dan Burger at Sheltering Wings. He wrote the following poem/reflection and information about the work of Sheltering Wings.

I go every Thursday at 5:30 or 8
I can’t be too early and it’s never too late
I go to the shelter and meet with some boys
With the hope that our time spent
Will become one of their joys
They’re there as a piece of a family that’s split
The how or why don’t matter to me-not one bit
There is a program to teach them good values and actions
I think what they need too,
is a time with distractions.
So I go with my mystery bag full of some whatsits
There are mirrors and magnets to pick up bolts and the nuts(es)
There is a glass that will make bigger all the this and the that
And an aluminum fork that will hum in B flat
With flashlights we cast shadows that can be real scary
in a room that the wall is smooth, bumpy and hairy
Some days it’s the Legos that take up our time
On others it’s the dominoes--double nines
I go for the souls not yet hardened –to nurture
With curious things and hand stands on the furniture
I go there to show the boys it’s all right
Every Thursday I am there so you know me by sight
One guy in their life that says they’re OK,
Though he be older and taller and quiet and grey.
I go because my soul needs nurture too
And on Thursdays the five year-old’s smile will do.

Sheltering Wings is located on the north edge of the Hendricks Regional Hospital complex inDanville. It provides an immediate haven from violence or abandonment for women and children. It is not a permanent home. Sheltering Wings also provides education and support in preparation for independence. In 2017 there were 129 women and 92 children that called Sheltering Wings home and more than 135 have left the shelter for safe and independent lives.

Additionally outside programs have educated more than 200,000 adults and teens about domestic violence. There is paid staff and last year volunteers added an additional 4000 hours of effort. If you wish to support Sheltering Wings, continuous needs are: paper towels, toilet tissue, trash bags(55 gallon), stamps,
and copier paper. There are some “thanks but no thanks” items. Cash always works. Their website always features a current needs list (https://shelteringwings.org/wish-list/)

Sheltering Wings — PO Box 92, Danville, IN 46122

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