Volunteers and donors are needed for the second annual Project Homeless Connect, an initiative to help people experiencing homelessness in Orange County.

Project Homeless Connect 2008 will be held on Sept. 25 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Hargraves Community Center, 216 N. Roberson St. in Chapel Hill.

The event is a one-day, one-stop center to link people experiencing -- or at risk of experiencing -- homelessness with a broad range of services. Guests are offered assistance with such things as housing, employment, health and dental care, foot care, mental health care, veterans' benefits, social service benefits and legal services. They also receive lunch and personal care gift bags, and are offered haircuts, showers and coats and other clothing.

At the first Project Homeless Connect event last October, 133 guests were served, nearly 40 agencies provided services, more than 20 businesses donated goods and services and more than 200 volunteers participated in a variety of ways, including preparing and serving food, assembling personal care gift bags, and escorting guests through the event. The program provides a wide range of assistance in one location and demonstrates respect and hospitality from the community.

Volunteers are needed to assemble personal care kits, prepare and serve food, cut hair, photograph the event, wash feet, escort guests, and to help in many other ways.

Monetary donations will be used to purchase personal care items, water bottles, tote bags, and portfolios for the guests, and to pay for costs associated with services they receive at the event, such as thrift shop vouchers and the cost of obtaining an identification card. Donation needs include food and serving items, coats, underwear, socks, diapers and wipes, knapsacks and umbrellas.

To see a complete list of the volunteer positions and donations needs for Project Homeless Connect 2008, go to the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness Web site at www.co.orange.nc.us/housing/ComponentsofthePartnershiptoEndHomelessness.asp.

For information, contact Jamie Rohe, Project Homeless Connect coordinator, at 969-5059 or jrohe@townofchapelhill.org.