Like ever-present angels ministering to their flock, CARTS volunteers pull their wagons into downtown Victoria’s nooks and crannies every Friday night.

Volunteers with the group – CARTS is an acronym for Christian Actions Reflecting the Spirit – administer aid of all kinds to the street population: sometimes sustenance, other times simply emotional or spiritual help.

As regular volunteers with the group can attest, there are plenty of regulars on this route. They’re the largely homeless folk who make sure not to miss what may be their only healthy meal of the day, the chance to get a clean, warm pair of socks, or perhaps a blanket to help keep the harsh winds from going right through them or the dew off once they bed down for the night.

Kathy Kossen is very familiar with the downtown crowd, having begun CARTS in 2002 with her sister Charon Hill. These days the people on the street appear to be losing hope, Kossen says.

“There’s just so many more people on the street and many of them are more discouraged than they’ve ever been,” she says, comparing the scenario today with when the CARTS crews first hit the streets.

Being at street level has its advantages, if one is looking to find the city’s shadowy underbelly. For example, Kossen says she and her fellow volunteers see far more open drug use since the closure of the fixed needle exchange on Cormorant Street. “We’re seeing more people using out on the streets.”

Having the ability to stay warm is a very basic need that Kossen and company recognize is crucial to the well-being of people living on the street.

To that end, CARTS is looking to restock its supply of warm clothing and other items with its annual sleeping bag and blanket drive this Saturday (Nov. 22). Volunteers will be near the Ten Thousand Villages store in the Broadmead Village shopping centre in Royal Oak. Donations will be accepted between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

CARTS volunteers give out about 100 pairs of socks every Friday, so the need is great for such items, Kossen says. Since a larger number of men than women are living on the street, men’s cold-weather clothing items are always in demand, she adds.

If you can’t make it to Royal Oak on Saturday, but want to donate, please call Kathy at 250-595-2038 or Charon at 250-592-7115.

ddescoteau@vicnews.com