BEND, OR -- Recognizing the region's largest homeless shelter needs to expand, locally-owned Bank of the Cascades donated to a major capital campaign for the Bethlehem Inn, Monday. 

Gwenn Wysling, Executive Director of the Bethlehem Inn, tells KBND News it will sponsor a transitional unit for homeless families. "We received a $25,000 check, which was grant funding from Bank of the Cascades - their Community Grant funding. This is going to help us build one of our 10 new family units that we're going to start on next March, here at our existing location." 

The shelter is in the final push of a $4.5 million capital campaign. Wysling says the proposed expansion will help the Bethlehem Inn serve 10 families, instead of the current five. "Bank of the Cascades has been a supporter for some of our annual events, sponsorships and things like that. This was something, I think, on a much larger scale than we've seen them do for us before; but it was a real help in terms of just that business partnership and folks understanding and knowing the work that we do and the number of families that we serve every year."