KANSAS CITY, Mo. — City Union Mission in Kansas City was busy Wednesday as temperatures dropped below zero degrees, Executive Director Dan Doty said.
"When our numbers go up, we serve three meals a day here so we go through a lot of food and so the need is just constantly here," Doty said. "We can always use more canned goods, vegetables and fruit, and bath towels, and financial help is always needed as well," Doty said.
Despite the frigid temperatures overnight, the men's shelter had fewer people than past years, with just more than 200 men, Doty said.
"We were set to receive a lot more men than are here because we have more space than we have had in the past years, up to 370 people in the men's shelter," Doty said. "So we have a lot of empty beds, which we're grateful to have them when they're needed."
Doty said the mission has increased numbers in its longer term program and its special care facility for men with physical and mental health problems, which has led to fewer people in the men's shelter.
Doty said the family center, however, has been a different situation in the extreme cold.
"We're full most of the time there, 99 percent of the time," Doty said. "In this cold weather we make exceptions and we open up overflow areas in our family center for people that need to get out of the cold."
For more information on City Union Mission, click here.
