LYNCHBURG, Va. – Across the region, the temperatures have been skyrocketing into the upper 90s as the summer heat makes its presence known.
For that reason, the Lynchburg Salvation Army has recently opened up a cooling station at its main location to help people beat the heat.
Lynchburg Corps Officer Major Bret McElroy says that anybody is more than welcome to stop by the cooling station to avoid the blazing sun.
“With it being as hot as it is, having a cool place to go is helpful to a lot of people,” McElroy said. “Especially those that don’t have a place to go. There’s a lot of people who are out in the streets right now. We have a lot of people in our shelter so this provides them an opportunity to cool off.”
The cooling station opened up on Friday and is open all weekend from noon to 5:00 p.m. Visitors can pick up a snack, enjoy a cold drink, and most importantly, beat the summer heat.
“Really with the weather temperatures the way they are, we just really want to try and get people off the streets, we want to help people cool off,” Major McElroy said. “So what we got here is some great snacks and some cold water. Just anything that anybody would need to cool off, the temperatures are nice in here so it gets people out of the heat.”
So far, Major McElroy and his staff have been getting positive feedback from those who visit the station.
“What we’re hearing from people is that they’re just happy to have a cool place to go, get a drink of water, get a snack and kind of freshen up a bit,” Major McElroy said.
While the station is set to close after Sunday, Major McElroy said that, if the need arises, the Salvation Army will once again open the doors of the cooling station.
“We’ll just play it by ear, it depends on the temperatures, the weather and the need,” Major McElroy said. So if the need is there, we want to do what we can to meet that need.”
Community dinners are also being served for free at 4:30.