For the fourth year in a row, the Make a Difference Christmas Tree Lot is setting up shop in Kent, this year right in the heart of the downtown core.
The lot, run by Brian Raynes, offers shoppers a chance to help out the city’s homeless simply by purchasing a tree.
Proceeds from each tree at the lot, located at the corner of Meeker Street and 2nd Avenue, will go to support Raynes’ weekly feed, which offers to the homeless a hot meal and a place to get out of the elements every Thursday night.
“We wanted to sell Christmas trees to raise money to fund the homeless,” Raynes said this week.
Raynes said his goal was to sell at least 400 trees. He is stocking his lot with Douglas firs and noble firs that he drove up from Oregon over the weekend.
The move to a more downtown location this year is also an attempt to get more foot traffic moving through the area.
“I thought it would be good for local merchants,” he said.
Raynes, former owner of Raynes Water in Kent, said helping the homeless has always been a passion for him.
“I’ve always had a compassion for people,” he said.
Raynes helps fund his Thursday evening feeds through collecting and recycling scrap metal from local businesses and hauling them down to Commercial Metals in Pacific.
Raynes said he feeds between 50 and 100 people every Thursday. The meal used to take place at 416 Railroad Ave. S, the location of his former business, but more recently has been taking place at the Kent Lutheran Church at 336 Second Ave. S.
Though he brings the food, he said Bittersweet Bakery and Maggie’s restaurants, both of Kent, help out with the cooking.
Donated money also is used to buy backpacks and stock them with supplies and toiletries for those in need. On Thanksgiving, Raynes volunteered at the Golden Steer and handed out nearly 100 backpacks.
Buyers are also encouraged to donate food, which will be collected for the homeless as well.
The ultimate goal is not just to fund the weekly meals, but to to open a place in a vacant business where the homeless can go for a few hours a day, especially now that the library is closed for renovations.
“The library is closed and that scares me,” Raynes said Tuesday, as he helped set up the new lot. “There’s no place for the homeless people to go.”
“We don’t want to find any of our friends dead because they have no place to go to get warm,” he added.
Raynes said the meals don’t just provide nourishment, but also fellowship for those who come in. He cited the Bible as inspiration for helping out.
“We are our brother’s keeper,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about – helping out our brothers and sisters.”
In addition to helping the homeless, Raynes said this year $1 from every sale would be donated to the fund for the families of the Lakewood police officers who were killed this past weekend.
Learn more
The Make a Difference Tree Lot is located at Meeker Street and Second Avenue in Downtown Kent. Hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. Trees begin at $25 and proceeds will go to feeding the homeless. To contact Brian Raynes regarding the pick-up of scrap metal or to donate food or money, call 253-332-8010 or email BTPayItForward@aol.com
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