Three hundred homeless people are at risk of losing a place to get a meal and warm up just as temperatures begin to drop below zero. 

Lighthouse Mission says they may be forced to shut down soon after an inspection of their boiler found a significant leak. The boiler has been shut down because of safety concerns as a result of the leak. The mission says without a new boiler they won't be able to operate this winter.

"We are supposed to be a warm, safe place for those in our community to receive meals, love and spiritual care and right now we are not able to provide that warmth," says Lighthouse Mission's Operations Manager, Beverly Ajtay. "This couldn't have come at a worse time."

Initial estimates to replace the boiler for the building are ranging anywhere from $45,000 to $58,000.

"This was unexpected. We don't have the extra finances in the budget needed for this," Ajtay says.

Donations to help support this project can be made online at www.lighthousemission.ca or by calling (204) 943-9669.

Lighthouse Mission currently serves an average of 11,000 meals each month to hundreds of Winnipeg's most vulnerable citizens who struggle to meet basic needs due to poverty or homelessness.

With roots going back over 100 years, Lighthouse Mission has occupied The Zimmerman Block at 669 Main Street since the mid-1970s, a 106-year-old, designated Heritage Building. The soup kitchen feeds 300 people a day throughout the week, providing food, warmth, friendship, spiritual guidance and support to Winnipeg's less fortunate.