Between 30 and 40 people are homeless in Windsor on any given night, says Christine Wilson, administrator of Street Help, a downtown drop-in centre for homeless and low-income people.

The organization has issued a call for sleeping bags to help keep its clients safe and warm through the Canadian winter. Paolo Vasapolli of Food Services has offered to collect contributions from the UWindsor community.

“Street Help has identified a need for 450 new or gently-used sleeping bags,” he says. “The word is going out through media, church and school groups, and I hope we here on campus can do our part.”

The city is currently in the midst of a cold snap, with temperatures expected to stay well below freezing through the weekend. Vasapolli says the winter weather is especially hard on the homeless population.

“They have nowhere to go. A donation of a sleeping bag, maybe one we don’t even use anymore—that could save someone’s life,” he says.

Street Help is located at 964 Wyandotte Street East and is open to accept donations from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Vasapolli invites anyone on campus interested in contributing sleeping bags or warm winter gloves to the cause to drop off donations at his office in the CAW Student Centre’s Marketplace, or phone him at 519-253-3000, ext. 4517.