Vancouver charity aiming to keep the city's most vulnerable warm and safe as temperatures drop

Temperatures are expected to dip below zero this weekend, a forecast that can be frighteningly cold for those who call the streets their home.

Hundreds of people gathered outside of the Lotus Light Charity Saturday to receive supplies, including food and clothing.

One of the people waiting in line was Tony Cairns.

"It’s very important," he said. "Because they care about people and that's a big thing."

Cairns has been homeless for two years. He calls donation drives like the Lotus Light’s winter event vital.

"The lineup has grown around the block in the last three years,” said Floyd Wong, the vice president of Lotus Light Charity Society.

The charity has been holding the event for 27 years, and Wong says the demand has been at an all-time high this year.

"Prices have gone up, rent has gone up, everything has gone up, and so the needs have increased,” he said.

The latest city stats show at least 2,000 people in Vancouver were homeless in 2020. It’s a number that Wong believes has only increased in the past two years.

Organizers expect to deliver packages to 1,000 people.

As temperatures drop, the need to help the city’s most vulnerable rises.

"Homelessness is a key, significant challenge for Vancouver," said Insp. Terry Yung of the Vancouver Police Department.

"Now the winter is coming up, we really worry about people living on the streets. Nobody, as I said earlier, nobody should be hungry or cold."

The VPD and BC Ambulance partner with Lotus Light each year to help the charity hand out donated items.

“We should ask ourselves, how can we be more inclusive?" Yung said. "How can we help people in need? We can all talk about it, but here today, we’re making a difference.”

This weekend, the city has issued an extreme weather alert and has opened warming centres until Tuesday.

It’s an option for those experiencing homelessness as temperatures drop, but for Cairns, it’s just the reality of sleeping on the street.

"When you're homeless, you're used to the weather, doesn't matter if it's raining, snowing or whatever, you get used to it,” Cairns said.

Instead, he said he’s focusing on the donated items, many of them basics that people with homes may take for granted.

"There's free socks, there's toothbrushes, toothpaste, and a lot people need it, eh?" He said.