OKLAHOMA CAPITOL -- The director of the Office Faith-Based and Community Initiatives will deliver the keynote address at this week’s Lighthouse Outreach Center fundraising dinner in Bartlesville.

Brad Yarbrough, the director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, will speak about the need for programs such as the Lighthouse Outreach Center, which has helped thousands of homeless persons without assistance from the federal government.

“Helping the homeless is at the core of the expression of one’s faith,” Yarbrough said. “If we don’t open our hearts to meet these needs we have to ask ourselves how seriously we acknowledge our faith.”

The dinner and silent auction will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 3 at the Hillcrest Country Club, 1901 Price Rd., in Bartlesville. The event is being held to help raise funds for the center’s programs.

Started in 1992 by Naomi Hill, the Lighthouse Outreach Center, has helped more than 5,700 homeless persons in Northwestern Oklahoma, and has served more than 190,000 meals and delivered more than 4,000 food baskets to residents in the Bartlesville area. The center is the lone homeless shelter in Washington County and serves a six county area that includes counties in Southeastern Kansas. For her work, Hill has been nominated for the 2004 Jefferson Award for outstanding community service.

For more information about the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, please visit the organization’s Web site at http://www.faithlinksok.org/.

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