Communities Reach Out During Cold Weather

One Northeast Arkansas man, who wished to remain anonymous, walked in the snow, to sit inside the Salvation Army of Jonesboro for twenty minutes. He received warmth. And free food.

“they lend a hand, they don’t turn nobody away…and there always there through rain, sleet, snow or shine.”

Non-profits across the area are banding together to provide relief from freezing temperatures, frostbite, and potential hypothermia that meteorologists are saying can occur in as little as thirty minutes of exposure to this frigid air.

Angela Sadler of the salvation army says they’ve assisted more than three hundred people since the first of January.

“during times like this, or when it’s extremely hot in the summertime, we open up the shelter for cold weather nights. We have cots that we pull out, an anywhere there is space, we will put them. So that people are off the streets, and safe from the inclement weather.”

“we don’t want anybody standing out in the cold for any length of time.”

Mission Outreach of Northeast Arkansas extended its hours today to offer soup kitchen meals, free beds, and give away blankets, hats and scarfs. Executive Director Cheri Peters responded to more than a dozen calls and walk-ins in one day. Peter’s says, “we do have 58 bed emergency homeless shelter. We are not quite at capacity but almost at capacity.”

Mission Outreach is also helping to pay utility bills for green county residents that need an extra hand this freezing winter. Both the Salvation Army and Mission Outreach expect several hundred more visitors over the next two months.