The Nicola Valley Shelter and Support Society’s cold weather shelter is in good shape heading into the cold weather season.

Merritt’s shelter will have all the supplies it needs when it opens this November thanks to the generosity the community showed last year.

“We did so well last year in terms of donations, like our storage locker is pretty full,”  Nicola Valley Shelter and Support Society director Kelly Donaldson told the Herald.

She said they are not in need of any items, such as clothing or furniture.

Donaldson said they had bags of blankets, pillows and clothes left over from last year.

BC Housing will contribute $34,000 to help operate the shelter for the second year in a row.

The year before last year the society received just $12,000 from the provincial organization.

“We proved the need for the service in our community,” Donaldson said of the increase in funding.

The shelter has received a total of about $ 5,000 in donations between the City of Merritt, Nicola Tribal Association and the Rotary Club of Merritt Sunrise.

Donaldson said the estimated cost to operate the shelter this year is $45,000.

“We use every dollar that is thrown our way,” Donaldson said.

Last year the cold weather shelter was accessed 617 times between November and March, with 403 overnight guests. The year before 596 people accessed the shelter between December and February, with 490 overnight visits, Donaldson said.

The shelter will be open, weather dependent, beginning November 5 this year, as opposed to 2013 when it opened on the first of the month.

On November 2, leading up to this year’s opening, the United Way will be at the shelter to help get it ready.

Volunteers from their community impact council will paint and clean the shelter in preparation for the upcoming cold weather season.

The shelter will once again be located at 1937 Quilchena Ave. and be open between 5 p.m. and 8 a.m.

Donaldson said last November was very cold and the shelter was open a lot longer that month than they had forecasted for and more than they could sustain. However, the month of March was quite mild.

“It all ended up coming out in the wash — it all worked out,” Donaldson said.

The extreme weather response shelter will be open seven days a week from December through February, but in November and March, the temperature will dictate which days it’s open. On days it’s forecasted to be above zero, the shelter won’t be open.

Donaldson said anyone looking to volunteer to help with the cold weather shelter can do so by filling out an application at the community policing office on Quilchena Avenue.