'We're trying to make sure people aren't freezing to death in the streets'
EUGENE, Ore -- Egan Warming Center sites depend on the assistance of volunteers throughout the community to help staff and operate the shelters. The shelters opened Nov. 15 on nights when temperatures drop to 28 degrees or below.
Volunteer teams are organized into three different separate shifts between the hours of 5 p.m. to 9 a.m.
“The community has just come out and been really generour to volunteetr night after night. And a lot of these people are arriving at 5 o'clock in the evening and staying until like five in the morning,” said Sophia McDonald.
The First Christian Church in downtown Eugene houses about 50 people a night. McDonald said most of the visitors stay at the shelter for multiple nights. While the sites do provide hot beverages and some food, organizers said their main objective is to get homeless people indoors.
“We are just really trying to make sure people aren't freezing to death in the streets,” said McDonald.
Individuals interested in volunteering at a Warming Center must complete a volunteer application online.
