Salvation Army drained of January funds by cold snap

As dire cold grips the Hi-Line, along with much of the U.S., Havre Salvation Army reports that they are in immediate danger of running out of funds to help people this month, potentially putting the area’s homeless population at even greater risk.

Havre Salvation Army Director Trina Crawford said the recent cold has been so bad that they have already drained this month’s budget for providing lodging to homeless people and have had to start drawing from other parts of their budget just to keep people alive.

“With circumstances as they are, there are a lot of people out there that don’t have homes,” Crawford said. “If we don’t help them … the chances of them perishing in this weather is great.”

She said this cold would have put a dent in their budget even during a good donation year, but their Red Kettle Campaign, the organization’s primary fundraising tool, came in almost $10,000 below their $38,000 goal.

At this point, she said, if they don’t get immediate financial assistance they won’t have anything left to provide any assistance for the rest of the month if they want to have a chance of providing any assistance at all in February.

“We have spent all of our discretionary dollars keeping individuals and families safe and warm,” a press release from the organization says.

“We don’t have anything left.” Crawford added this morning. “It’s dire.”

The release asked people to help them keep people safe during this dangerous time of year.

Contact Trina Crawford at 406-265-6411 or go online to https://havre.salvationarmy.org/havre_service_center to make a donation.