Volunteers give up Christmas Eve to save lives amid bitter cold

Volunteers from across the Triangle left their warm homes on Christmas Eve to help out at "White Flag" shelters opened to protect the less fortunate.

Posted 9:59 p.m. Dec 23, 2022 — Updated 11:45 p.m. Dec 24, 2022

Michelle Mackonochie

, WRAL anchor/reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — Volunteers from across the Triangle left their warm homes on Christmas Eve to help out at "White Flag" shelters opened to protect the less fortunate.

The White Flag system goes into effect when temperatures plummet, pulling people off the street and into the warmth for a meal and a place to stay.

Four shelters are open in Raleigh this weekend:

For men at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church at 1801 Hillsborough St. and Oak City Cares at 1430 S. Wilmington St.
For women at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at 3313 Wade Ave.
For families with children at the Salvation Army of Wake County, 1863 Capital Blvd., Raleigh

Those who need shelter from the cold are welcome at these locations and can call the Shelter Communications Center at 919-834-2611 with questions any time from 4 p.m. to 8 a.m.

Temperatures dropped into the teens on Saturday, the coldest day in Raleigh since January 2018, with wind chills making it feel like 4-below, WRAL meteorologist Peta Sheerwood said.

Sunday will be another bitter day, with the high forecast around the freezing mark.

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"If somebody sleeps outside in this, especially our more vulnerable folks are going to die in this weather," Pastor Vance Haywood told WRAL News.

Haywood is senior pastor of St. John's Metropolitan Community Church and chairman of the Wake County Continuum of Care Homeless Emergency Response Committee.

He and dozens of volunteers are giving time this holiday weekend to help their neighbors.

"It’s an amazing opportunity to come together and be able to care for one another," he said. "Every volunteer that shows up and does anything here – the donations and the folks that are coming in – are saving lives."

Given the forecast, shelters will remain open over night through Tuesday.

"I’m still worried we may have some deaths this weekend, but we’re doing our best to prevent it," Haywood said.

Volunteers staff shelters during the day and overnight, prepare food and serve meals, sort and deliver donated goods and help set up and clean up shelters.

"This is the first time in three years that we’ve had to do this," Haywood said. "It’s wearing on people, and we still have several hours yet to go, so we’re expecting to survive through this."

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