BUFFALO, N.Y. — For more than fifty years, Friends of Night People has helped Western New Yorkers in need.
And the group is looking for more volunteers who share the mission of helping people who need food, clothing, and medical care.
Monday morning, we found out more about how you can help.
"A lot of people are in the area, a lot of people come, you know, know about us. Not going to brag, but we have pretty good food. So some people come specifically because it is really good," said Patty Krehbiel, Friends of Night People, Relationship Manager.
Patty Krehbiel has been with Friends of Night People for six years, but the group has been serving Buffalo since 1969.
"We've seen an increase especially since now people can take it to-go instead of eating in-building, they can take it home, they can take it to their family, they can take it to their kids, so we have seen an increase," said Patty Krehbiel.
Friends of Night People serves 150-thousand meals a year and is looking for more volunteers.
"We have about 65-hundred volunteer shifts a year, and we need volunteers for them. We serve dinner every night of the year, and we serve breakfast Monday through Friday. We have other locations that we get volunteers for, so we definitely need volunteers," said Patty Krehbiel.
Everyone from families to youth groups can help. If you're under 15 you need a parent with you. After the holidays, they do see fewer people helping out.
"People are back to school, they're back to work, so we lose our college kids who are off on break, which come in a lot over the winter break, so it does drop off after the holidays," said Patty Krehbiel.
Krehbiel says they usually serve two-hundred people a night for dinner and about 150 for breakfast.
"In addition to the food, we also have a clothing closet free for everybody who comes in. So we provide clothing, toiletries, there's some, you know, grab and go food items. We also have showers a couple of days a week. We have a medical clinic twice a month, we have hair cuts that come, we have a lot of outreach workers that come in to help with, you know, getting phones or, you know, insurance," said Patty Krehbiel.
If you sign up, you'll be serving meals, helping with drinks, helping people to their tables, and handing out toiletries.
"It's good for you. It does prove, you know, there's studies proving that it lowers your blood pressure, you know, there's a lot of health benefits for you for volunteering, but it's for us, we serve about a 150-thousand meals a year and we have a small staff, so we need volunteers to help with those meals to the folks who need it," said Patty Krehbiel.
