PORTLAND — Anna Blash went looking for a man named Lewis at the Casco Bay Lines Ferry Terminal Monday.

He wasn’t there, but wherever he was, he was probably warmer thanks to Blash.

Blash, 32, is a writer who also works “odd jobs,” and has lived on Peaks Island since March. A job she took about two weeks ago was finding winter clothing for Lewis, a homeless man she met last summer.

“I took him out for soup once,” she said, and learned he preferred spending days in the terminal to time at Preble or Oxford streets.

On Jan. 7, Blash posted a request on PI List, the island cyber bulletin board operated by Peaks resident Carol Eisenberg.

“He’s still wearing the same hoodie and jeans I met him in this summer. I’m trying to put together a bag of winter gear for him. He’s looking really cold these days,” Blash said in her post.

She set up a collection box that was soon filled, but then found Lewis prefers to live lightly. So instead, the excess donations are helping other homeless people.

“I got three garbage bags full of stuff,” she said. “I’ve been bringing him things one at a time.”

So far, Blash has given Lewis a jacket, gloves and a hat. On Monday, she also brought a backpack she wanted to give him. She and her neighbor, David Vincent, had also brought over more clothing, along with leftovers from a community  dinner held Sunday that raised money for a fuel assistance fund.

Blash offered food to some of the men spending their morning in the terminal with mixed results. The remainders would go to Preble Street.

The clothing contributions were practical. One was quizzical.

“This is my favorite donation,” Blash said, holding out one tie-dyed sock. “I wonder if someone wanted us to make a sock puppet?”

Some clothing was given to a friend of Blash’s, a former Buddhist monk returning to the wider world. Some clothing also went to a Peaks resident.

“You never know who is in need in your backyard,” Blash said.

She and Vincent said they knew islanders would respond to her plea.

“This is the thing about islanders,” Vincent said. “They open their hearts when there is a call for help.”

Blash, native of Miami, said this is not the first time she has tried to help someone in need.

“I feel like it is natural, it is being human,” she said.

David Harry can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 110 or dharry@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidHarry8.

Peaks Island resident Anna Blash holds a tie-dyed sock donated to help a homeless man she met at the Casco Bay Ferry Terminal.

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