REGINA — As temperatures in Regina are expected to drop over the next few days, warming centres are getting prepared.
According to Environment Canada, temperatures on Thursday morning are expected to be with a wind chill of nearly -40 C.
Ann Perry, executive director of the Circle Project located on Fifth Avenue, said their warming centre prepares accordingly to the colder temperatures.
“We have extra lunches available,” said Perry. “But in cases where the temperatures dip down below -40, then we just offer lunches all day.”
Circle Project relies on volunteers to prepare nutritious meals, including sandwiches and fruit, twice a week to keep up with demand.
“Last year alone, we actually distributed 25,000 sandwiches. We're probably [serving] about 120, 125 sandwiches a day when the weather is cold,” said Perry.
During extreme cold, Perry said people tend to stay at the warming centre for longer periods.
“People will tend to stay around areas where there are supports available.”
Another warming centre, Carmichael Outreach, is extending its hours weekly so people can stay in the space longer.
“We are looking to extend our hours, tentatively opening earlier and earlier each week till we can reach 23.5 hours in a day, just to help those who need a place to go when there's nothing else open,” said Travis Lumberjack, general manager of Carmichael Outreach.
On top of extending hours, Lumberjack said the organization hands out more supplies in the cold.
“We hand out more clothing, we give hand warmers, gloves, socks, whatever you name it, whatever we have in our inventory.”
According to Lumberjack, Carmichael Outreach sees 90 to 100 people stay at the warming centres daily.
Most of those people tend to stay at the warming centre for the entire night.
More information on warming centres across the city can be found here.
