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Community comes together to support Homeless Winter Survival Drive at Old Mill Hub

November 28, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By Sam Odrowski

The Homeless Winter Survival Drive at the Old Mill Hub has concluded after a month and a half of collecting donations for individuals in need.

The drive ran from Oct. 1 to Nov. 15, collecting jackets, hats, mittens, gloves, socks, boots, snow pants, and sleeping bags, which have been set aside for the Lighthouse community meal program, run by the Uptown Church on Broadway.

Individuals who access free lunches from the Lighthouse will be offered winter clothing to help them stay warm through the season. Some of the items will also go into the Lighthouse’s annual Christmas Gift Bags. Jackets from the drive are being donated to the Dufferin Men’s Shelter on Townline as well.

Organizer of the Homeless Winter Survival Drive and chief property manager of the Old Mill Hub, Marshal Bobechko, said he started the drive due to the rise he’s seen in homelessness in Orangeville.

“I grew up here and there’s people I went to high school with that are now homeless,” he said. “That was never a problem that they had before. They never struggled with drugs, never struggled anything, and all of the sudden they just can’t afford to pay their rent, they can’t afford groceries.”

The Lighthouse offers free lunches Monday to Friday and a bagged lunch for the weekends to help those who access the program remain fed. The Lighthouse sees anywhere from 20 to 40 people a day.

An important part of offering free meals is creating a sense of community among those who access them.

“It’s vital for them to get the food, but it’s so important for them to have the environment, to be there to spur one another on, and for us to help them,” said Pastor Matthew McLean, who has run the Lighthouse for the past six years. “It’s like dominoes, right. What we’re doing, you hope will be the start of a chain reaction towards good things.”

He added, “We’ve had people that are off the streets, now. We have people that are off of drugs. We have people that are housed, now.”

McLean told the Citizen, that some of the best ways to support the Lighthouse’s work in the community is by donating $10 gift cards for places like McDonalds or Tim Hortons as it helps him build connections with local homeless people.

“If I see somebody that’s in need on the street, I use them to build a bridge,” McLean explained. “I tell them about the Lighthouse, explain what we’re doing there… I say, ‘We’d love to help you out if you need a little hand, and give you some food’ – that sort of thing.”

He added, “The food is a necessity, but it’s to try to get them to another place, a better place, if that’s something that they’re open to.”

McLean said there’s a network in Orangeville of places that provide support to people in need, such as the food bank, Salvation Army, the Beacon at St. Mark’s Anglican Church, and the County of Dufferin.

The Lighthouse also offers taxi vouchers to help those accessing the free meal program get around town.

McLean said his goal is to build relationships with the program participants to help them get on the right path.

General donations to the Lighthouse also go a long way, helping to cover the food cost for the lunches, rent, staffing and other expenses associated with the program.

The Lighthouse is located at 207 Broadway and runs from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every Monday to Friday.

To learn more about the program, volunteer or donate, call the Uptown Church office at 519-942-0736.

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