The Ketchikan Church recently opened the Wee Blessings Redistribution Center, which offers free clothing, shoes, food and household goods to Ketchikan residents in need. The center is also looking for donations of firewood.
The center's name represents how the whole community is involved. "The items we receive as donations become blessings to those who receive them," said Marge Edais-Yeltatzie, Ketchikan community services director. Yeltatzie hopes to open other centers in the future.
At the center's opening, Bill Williams, Alaska state representative, cut the ribbon and spoke about the Native tradition of giving to neighbors.
Ketchikan, a town of 14,000 in southeast Alaska, has been hit hard with the closure of almost all logging operations in the area.
Marge Edais-Yeltatzie shows the quality used clothing available at Wee Blessings, a redistribution center operated by the Ketchikan Church that offers free clothing, food and household items to Ketchikan families. (John Payne)
