LEWISTON — The Lewiston/Auburn Alliance for Services to the Homeless invites the L-A community to join the annual candlelight vigil to remember homeless people during the holiday season. It will be held from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21, in downtown Lewiston.

For 10 years, LAASH has held the vigil as part of a national movement of cities marking National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day on or near the winter solstice, the first day of winter and the longest night of the year.

Participants are asked to meet at 4:30 p.m. in the courtyard of the Trinity Jubilee Center at Trinity Episcopal Church. The courtyard entrance is on Spruce Street near the corner with Bates Street.

After a few words and lighting of candles, vigil participants will walk several blocks down Bates Street past the St. Mary’s Nutrition Center to Main Street. The procession will turn right on Main Street and continue up Sabattus Street to the courtyard of Calvary United Methodist Church in the triangle between Sabattus, College and Bartlett streets. There, the event will conclude with hot chocolate and refreshments donated by Hurricane’s and the Bread Shack.

Vigil participants are invited to bring nonperishable and canned food to the event, which will be collected at both Trinity and Calvary churches. Participants may join the vigil at any point along the procession route. a warm indoor space will be available to gather when the vigil concludes at Calvary church.

Staff from New Beginnings will provide van service back to the Jubilee Center or the Park Street garage as needed.

Based on a 2009 community needs assessment, LAASH and the United Way of Androscoggin County estimated that on any given night, 100 people in greater L-A are homeless — that number has likely increased with the continued recession. The route of this year’s vigil highlights a few of the local services for low-income and homeless people downtown:

*  Trinity Jubilee Center, 247 Bates St., provides daily meals and food, a warming center, refugee assistance, and resources to those in need, 782-5700.

* The Nutrition Center, 208 Bates St., includes St. Mary’s food pantry, youth and gardening programs, and cooking and nutrition education programs, 513-3848.

* The City Mission group at Calvary Church, 59 Sabattus St., serves a hot supper downstairs from 4:30 to 5:30 every Wednesday and breakfast Sundays from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. for the community, 782-3221.

* New Beginnings operates support services and housing for youth, including a drop-in center, 245 Lisbon, and 24-hour emergency shelter at 491 Main St., 795-4077.

Each year since 1990, the National Coalition for the Homeless has co-sponsored National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day to bring attention to the tragedy of homelessness. In an effort to maximize the impact of the day, organizers have encouraged statewide and local groups such as LAASH to hold events of their own. Last year, more than 152 cities across the nation sponsored events to recommit to the task of ending homelessness.

LAASH is a collaborative made up of organizations that serve local low-income and homeless people. LAASH, along with the United Way of Androscoggin County and other local supporters, has launched a 10-year plan to end homelessness in Lewiston-Auburn.

For more information, please see www.newbeginmaine.org or contact LAASH Public Relations Committee Chairman Bob Rowe at 795-4077.