Union Gospel Mission (UGM) is in desperate need of hand sanitizer to continue their work serving Winnipeg's homeless population.

With hand sanitizer becoming difficult to find, UGM says they are in need of the substance to continue their work.

Martin Chidwick, UGM's Development Manager, notes that in order to continue to serve the city's homeless population and aid recovering addicts they need to be even more diligent about hand hygiene. 

"With the kind of traffic that we have on a daily basis, we need as much help as we can get," Chidwick says.

UGM is still offering showers and meals but because of COVID-19 concerns, they require those entering their building to sanitize their hands. UGM sees hundreds of people a day but without the ability for visitors to clean their hands that could change.

"It would not be an exaggeration to say we need buckets of hand sanitizer," Chidwick says. 

Chidwick says that one UGM residence employee uses as much as half a container a day. Chidwick adds that he easily washes his hands 40-50 times a day due to the nature of his work.

"It is tricky to find (hand sanitizer) right now. We have been blessed with one or two sources which we are grateful to but there is a big demand for sources," he says.

Chidwick adds that they want to be mindful that other sources need the sanitizer as well but stresses that UGM would like to do their work properly and need the resource to do it.

UGM's hope is that organizations that are currently closed due to physical distancing guidelines would be able to donate hand sanitizer and lend them hand sanitizer dispensaries.

The mission is still able to serve meals, but only to 45 people at a time for a sit-down meal but those sitting down to a meal are required to use hand sanitizer before entering. If UGM does not have any hand sanitizer to provide they are unable to offer sit-down meals.

"It is a constant need to keep things hygienic and safe for all those that we serve," he says.

Chidwick adds that the organization already is delivering food to people on the street, up to another 60-70 people per day but those delivering the food also need to have clean hands.