Alliston Out of the Cold receives donation to help with coming winter months

Written By BRIAN LOCKHART

Alliston Out of the Cold received a major boost to its operating budget with a donation from FLATO Developments.

FLATO donated $10,000 to the organization to help them get through the winter.

“FLATO has a tradition of giving to charities,” said Joe Medeiros, representing FLATO. “Our president, Shakir Rehmatullah, believes it is very important to support the communities we are involved in.”

Alliston Out of the Cold operates three programs in the area.

“Alliston Out of the Cold is an organization that serves New Tecumseth and the surrounding area,” explained Alliston Out of the Cold Executive Director Jenifer Pergentile. “We operate three programs. Our first, which is our flagship program, which was Out of the Cold, has morphed into an emergency overnight shelter. That operates from November to April. Then we operate a community dinner program that runs in conjunction with our sheltering program over the winter. It's open to anyone in need of a hot meal. It's an effort to address food and security.”

The programs operate out of the former Alliston Community Fellowship church building on Paris Street in Alliston. The church building has become the shelter.

“We currently are our own non-profit in the process of getting our charitable status, but we operate under the umbrella of the charitable status of this church until such time we get our charitable status,” Ms. Pergentile explained. “Our third program is our outreach program. We have a Facebook presence in the community. All the social service agencies are aware that we exist so they make referrals to us. The churches all know we exist. It's also a lot of word out mouth in the community.”

The organization is always looking for volunteers to help them complete their valuable work.

FLATO Developments has been generous to several organizations around town as well as in other towns where they are currently working.