TOPEKA, Kan. – The Topeka Habitat noticed other food drives were being canceled because of the harsh temperature drop.
They know people rely on food boxes and they weren’t going to let the cold weather stop them from helping..
“We had realized this week that a lot of the food distributions had canceled because a lot of them are in parking lots and the volunteers would have to stand in the cold and that just isn’t safe and with our building here we are able to keep the food boxes inside and swap volunteers in and out so they can stay warm,” said Topeka Habitat Executive Director, Nikki MacMillan.
As much as food is important–they also handed out another key essential item to help people survive the winter.
“We also have some weatherization kits if people need assistance with keeping their homes warm–it has different items that will winterize their home–I know a lot of people are spending a lot more money on utilities right now so this will just keep our homes a little bit warmer too,” she said.
The food distribution was a drive thru and members of the community can just drive up and volunteers would pack food into their trunks.
The Habitat had no problem with collecting volunteers—
“These are some of our core volunteers and staff that show up time and time again and they always say yes–anytime they know there is a need that we can meet in the community and I was a little surprised they all said yes knowing how cold it was going to be today but nobody even thought twice about it,” said MacMillan.
