SARATOGA SPRINGS — On Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023 Beverly Lawson delivered more than 84 dozen cookies, baked by members of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Saratoga Springs, to Duane Vaughn, Executive Director of Shelters of Saratoga, for distribution to the more than 120 people receiving services from SOS.
Vaughn said that the cookies, carefully packaged in gift bags of seven cookies each, are often given as gifts by Shelters patrons. He said that the homeless population nationally has increased by more than 12% this year and in Saratoga Springs, the Code Blue population, served by SOS, is twice as large as it was one year ago. Vaughn and Associate Executive Director Stephanie Romero and Facilities House Manager Jess Thompson, who helped distribute the cookies, expressed their gratitude to the twenty or so bakers from the UUCSS who prepared the gift bags, and they agreed that the need to care for the homeless population is always present.
