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The extended cold streak expected to hit Saskatoon has one of the city’s shelters preparing to help more people than usual.
“We prepare by making sure that we have all the supplies to take care of all of our folks at the Lighthouse,” said Anna Pacik, fundraising and communications manager for Lighthouse Supported Living.
“We tend to use up a lot more food and we also rely on donations of blankets and winter gear because we have so many more people.”
The Lighthouse has 100 shelter beds as well as 150 supported or independent living rooms. They also serve meals to between 100 and 150 people three times a day.
Because of the risks associated with people being outside in temperatures that could reach -30 C, Pacik says they won’t turn anyone away, even if all the beds are full.
“We definitely see an uptick in the numbers but we do have quite a bit of space here at the Lighthouse so we are able to accommodate even above those numbers. We are well prepared for the cold weather for sure,” she said.
“We have a gym and we have a dining room that we can spill out to. So we can’t ever really say we are full just because we are mission driven but we definitely do feel the pinch when we have more people here.”
According to Pacik, they have had a good December in terms of winter clothes donations but they could always use more, particularly boots and winter coats.