With the sudden cold snap in the Kamloops area, homeless shelters are doing all they can to help those in need.

The Mustard Seed New Life Kamloops had about 40 people staying warm last night at their facilities.

Managing Director Diane Down says the number of people they help changes all the time.

“With the Out of the Cold shelter open last night, we know that they were full,” she said. “Now that BC Housing funds us for animals, we also had a dog in our shelter last night, and they were getting him all geared up for the day to manage with his paws.”

Down adds that various agencies are doing their best to ensure that no one is caught outdoors, especially when it gets really cold out.

“Folks that are living on the street, we just got to watch out for behaviours and making sure that everyone that comes in is safe and not disruptive,” she added. “There are other organizations at this time that have street level outreach – ASK Wellness for example – and yes, the police are also making sure that folks are getting indoors to stay warm.”

Down also noted the colder conditions make things especially challenging.

“We manage just by barrelling along,” she said. “We got staff, we’ve got on-call staff that helps us out, and we go through a lot of coffee.”

“If anybody is feeling any kind of empathy right now for those folks that live on the street, we could use some coffee now. We go through about 10 pounds a day.”