Warm Room successful because of volunteers

By Morgan Davy

BELLEVILLE –Outside of the government,  The Salvation Army  says it is the largest provider of social services in Canada. One of the services available in Belleville is the Warm Room.

Every night at 6 p.m. the Salvation Army opens it’s doors to anyone in the community who needs to get out of the cold for a few hours, and serves them a hot and hearty meal.

Brenda Poste, volunteer coordinator for the Salvation Army, says everyday is different in her office, and that makes working there a difficult job.

Poste has been with the Salvation Army for over 20 years, and says it takes time to find the right volunteer for the job.

She says it’s the community programs run by the Salvation Army that keep services like the Warm Room going.

Poste says that on any given night up to 70 people come to the Warm Room for dinner. A small team of three to six volunteers meet in the afternoon to begin preparing the meal, and are often there until 8:30 p.m. cleaning and getting ready for the next day. This makes it very important that they enjoy the work they are doing.

Poste says there are many reasons why she continues to work extended hours in the Warm Room, and the most important is the people.

The Warm Room is scheduled to be open until March 15, but Poste says they are hoping to extend it to the end of that month.