On Nov. 1, Water Street Mission issued a challenge to the Lancaster community to break its food collection record by Dec. 22. Last year, the organization collected 94,000 pounds of food, breaking all of its previous records. This year, Water Street Mission hopes to amass 100,000 pounds of donated food before Christmas.

This call to action is necessitated by a recent increase in the number of those in need of Water Street Mission's services, such as its emergency shelter and outreach center. "Throughout the summer and into the fall, the emergency shelter has filled up, which doesn't normally happen," said Matt Clement, director of marketing for Water Street Mission. "We're full through every week and we're reaching capacity. The food drive is a huge part of fulfilling the need that we're seeing."

The emergency shelter provides those experiencing homelessness with a hot meal and a safe place to sleep, as well as opportunities to move into residential programs and receive further assistance. The shelter does not normally receive an increase in engagement until the winter months but has noticed an alarming spike in those requiring assistance far sooner than usual, which Water Street Mission attributes to the rising costs of food, rent and fuel.

Water Street Mission serves 2,000 families on average each month through its outreach center. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays each week, the outreach center provides families with an opportunity to pick up dairy products, fruits, vegetables, eggs, desserts and occasionally hygiene items, distributing over 30,000 pounds of food on a monthly basis. On Fridays, whatever goods are left over for the week are able to be picked up without presenting an ID.

"The goal for the outreach center is to create a barrier between people and homelessness," said Clement. "If someone has to choose between paying their bills and buying groceries for the month, we take the groceries out of the equation so they can focus on keeping their housing."

Water Street Mission is always in need of volunteers and due to the current demand is also looking to bring aboard more employees in roles such as life coaches and case managers. "If we want to grow our capacity and meet community needs, we require quite a few people," said Clement. "The big call to action is for people to donate. That would be massive."

To view a list of items needed for the drive or to make a financial donation, visit https://wsm.org.