It's cold up here in Minnesota.
This weekend the temps are diving well below zero. Wind chill? Ugh.
But I'm fine - I've got warm clothes and heat.
You are probably doing pretty well, too.
Not so these folks;
The destination is an underpass, a popular campsite for homeless people in warmer weather. They find only one resident.
He emerges from a heap of clothing and sleeping bags he's fashioned into a kind of cocoon to ward off the cold.
Thursday night into Friday morning is expected to be the coldest night of the winter so far. Even so, Truong and McKiernan, outreach workers with St. Stephen's Human Services, predict a number of people will sleep out of doors on this chilly night.
This is a short diary - a reminder, really.
There are a lot of people sleeping in the cold tonight, or trying to sleep.
Don't forget them.
St.Stephen's Human Services
and a link to navajo's diary to lend some help to folks without heating oil on the Rosebud reservation
Telephone:
Sherry Cornelius of St. Francis Energy Co.
at 6 0 5 - 7 4 7 - 2 5 4 2
11 AM - 6 PM MST
Ask for Sherry or her mom Patsy. Normally a minimum order is $150, but they have an account to accumulate small donations to a minimum order. Credit Cards welcome and they are the only Native owned fuel company on Rosebud. Rosebud is next to Pine Ridge Reservation and in the same economically depressed condition.
If you'd like to mail a check:
Attn: Sherry Cornelius
St. Francis Energy Co. / Valandra's II
P.O. Box 140
St. Francis, South Dakota 57572
[make check payable to: St. Francis Energy Co.]
NOT tax deductible
http://sfec.yolasite.com/
You can also call Sherry's cell phone: 605.208.8888
and this:
Telephone:
The Lakota Plains Propane Company
at 6 0 5 - 8 6 7 - 5 1 9 9
Monday- Friday 8-5pm MST
Ask for Crystal to contribute to someone from Autumn's list. $120 minimum delivery. This company serves Pine Ridge Reservation.
NOT tax deductible
Or, if you are able, find somewhere in your own community to help, and thanks.
Tragic update:
Dangerously cold temperatures settled in over Minnesota overnight, and one death overnight is being blamed on the cold.
The woman who died has not been identified, but she reportedly was walking to a homeless shelter in downtown Minneapolis.