'Whatever anybody can donate': Sask. man uses school bus to help people stay warm

A Saskatchewan man who turned a school bus into a warmup shelter says his nonprofit desperately needs donations.

Ralph Nicotine was inspired to start the warm-up bus a few years ago, following a freezing death outside City Centre Church in Saskatoon.

Each year, when temperatures drop, Nicotine parks his bus outside that same church at night, welcoming the city’s most vulnerable to come in and warmup.

“There’s a warmup shelter here and there, but no capacity, there's too many people on the street, so I wanted to be a helping hand to our community,” he said in an interview with CTV News.

At first, he leased a bus from a friend, but last year he purchased his own so he could customize the interior.

The bus offers hot soup, coffee, and winter gear such as jackets and boots.

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“Everybody's grateful, thankful that we're out, just to keep warm and get a toque or something,” he said.

While Nicotine helps those who are struggling, he’s facing some of his own struggles. He says he moved back to Red Pheasant Cree Nation, because of the rising cost of rent in Saskatoon. Meaning, it’s an hour and a half commute to operate the warm-up bus in the city.He says he’s also busy fostering seven children and working two jobs.

“The nine to five kind of job, then I have an evening job and then when I’m done, I come here,” he said.

Nicotine says he uses donations and his own money to run the bus, which according to him, costs about $400 each night. But a decline in donations means he’s had to cut back hours.

Normally the bus would run for six nights a week, but now it only runs for two nights a week.

He’s asking people to help where they can, whether it be financially, or donating old winter clothing.

“Just whatever anybody can donate is what we’re looking for,” he said.

Nicotine says people can email him at ‘[e-mail]’ to arrange donations.