Salvation Army Soup Truck a Beacon in the Frigid Night
Hamilton – After handing out a few cups of hot soup at the Salvation Army’s outreach truck, Murray Slaney slips a couple of questions into the chit-chat — “Do you guys have a place to stay tonight? … Do you need anything else? Socks? Mitts?”
Ryan Grandits, wearing only canvas sneakers on his feet, plus a hoodie and windbreaker, pipes up. “I’ll take a jacket if you have one.”
The outreach truck’s quest to provide assistance to Hamilton’s homeless and vulnerable has a greater sense of urgency on this nigh. The arctic weather has made social services desperate to get the homeless inside to shelters to prevent them from freezing to death.
“Know anybody staying outside?” is a question Slaney constantly weaves into short conversations as he hands out food. “I just tell them you have to get in. It’s pretty easy. Nobody wants to stay out in weather like this.”
