Kingston Severe Weather Shelter will be open Thanksgiving night

KINGSTON — The Kingston Severe Weather Shelter will be open from 6:30 p.m. Nov. 23 — Thanksgiving night — to 6:30 a.m. Nov. 24.

The shelter is located in the Village Green Community Center, 26159 Dulay Road NE, Kingston.

The Kingston Severe Weather Shelter is open from 6:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. on nights when Kitsap County’s Department of Emergency Management’s weather prediction includes freezing temperatures, an inch of rain, or an inch of snow in a 24 hour period. The shelter is also open on Thanksgiving and Christmas nights, no matter the weather.

The shelter was activated last winter on 44 nights and served a total of 107 guests. Guests are provided with a safe and warm place to stay, which includes a cot, bedding, shower facility, warm food and beverages. Socks, gloves, toiletries, bus tokens and gift cards to local eateries are often available, provided by the community through donations to Kingston Cares (www.kingstoncares.org).

Kingston Cares started in 2013 when neighbors at the Village Green community garden realized that as the nights chilled, someone was calling the garden shed home. The nearest emergency shelter was miles away in Central Kitsap, so community members banded together to establish Kingston’s own Severe Weather Shelter for neighbors who have no safe place to stay on inclement nights.

Other severe-weather shelters:

• Gateway Fellowship, 18901 8th Ave. NE, Poulsbo.

• Silverdale United Methodist Church, 9982 Silverdale Way, Silverdale.

• The Salvation Army, 832 Sixth St., Bremerton. Beginning Dec. 1, the Salvation Army shelter will be open every night through March 31, regardless of the weather conditions, according to Maj. Scott Ramsey.

• Port Orchard United Methodist Church, 725 Kitsap St., Port Orchard.