MARIETTA—As the cold temperatures dip below freezing this season, MUST Ministries is taking in women and children to assure they are safe and warm. The Cold Weather Shelter is a temporary housing program on the Elizabeth Inn Campus that allows women and children to come to the Loaves and Fishes Community Kitchen and stay on blanketed cots.

The Cold Weather Shelter opens at 8 p.m. and MUST provides bottled water, fruit and other snacks upon arrival. It also provides towels, washcloths and hygiene kits. It’s a safe place because a staff member monitors the shelter as guests sleep.

The morning brings a full-course breakfast. If the temperatures remain cold, shelter guests can stay in a Warming Center on the Elizabeth Inn Campus. So far, 15 women have come in from the cold to be kept warm at MUST’s special program for winter weather.

“We want to be sure no one has to sleep in the cold,” said Keo Bufford, program manager of the Elizabeth Inn. “Our concern is for those who live in their cars or sleep outside. Men are welcomed at The Extension nearby.”

Currently, MUST is accepting donations of blankets, new socks and underwear, apples, orange juice, bananas, coffee, hot chocolate, granola bars, juice boxes and other snacks. MUST is an interfaith group, supported by many Catholic churches in the Cobb area.

Please bring donations to 55 Elizabeth Church Road, Marietta, and drop off at the Loaves and Fishes Community Kitchen from 8 a.m.–8 p.m., Monday-Friday. Mark the donations “Cold Weather Shelter