St. Vincent de Paul Society is calling for Christmas hamper applications by families in need.
Applications will be accepted from today through Dec. 3 at the former City Furniture building, 1115 Second Ave. in downtown Prince George.
Applicants can come in from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1 to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday with identification and CARE cards.
Bernie Goold, St. Vincent director, expects the number of hampers to well exceed 300 this Christmas if numbers of needy being served at the drop-in centre is any indication.
"We're serving between 320 and 340 meals every day for breakfast, lunch and evening sandwiches," said Goold, who a year ago thought a big day was when more then 200 showed up for meals.
"We have a large increase in new people who've never had to use our services before. They are the working poor, mainly, who find the extra cost of winter is breaking their budget.
"We're now giving out 180 to 200 hampers per month, and that's up from six months ago when we were handing out 100 to 150 per month," Goold said.
"Our fruit and vegetable hampers are now totalling about 100 every week - up 30 to 40 per cent from 60 to 70 six months ago.
"Really, it's a miracle that we can continue to open our doors each day, and it's only by the generosity of this community," said Goold.
When asked about effects of this frigid weather, she said it has required shelters around the city to add extra cots and mattresses to provide sleeping quarters for those out in the cold. They can't turn people away," she said.
