With temperatures expected to plunge into the single digits Monday night in East Tennessee and wind chills below zero, leaders in Campbell County are providing a safe place for people to keep warm.
Get the latest forecast here.
With the help of dozens of volunteers, LaFollette Mayor Mike Stanfield opened a cold weather shelter in the cafeteria at the old West LaFollette school.
The shelter will remain open for the next several days until the weather begins to warm up a bit.
"Anybody who is homeless, I hope they're here tonight," Stanfield said. "People have been so good about helping. Once they found out I needed something, that I was going to do something for the people, my phone has not stopped ringing."
Volunteers are asking folks to spread the word to anyone who may need a warm place to spend the night, and asking for folks to donate food, drinks, cups, plates and sleeping bags.
The local police departments will provide transportation to the shelter for anyone who cannot drive there.
"It's just too cold, and we don't want people to die in the freezing cold," said Melanie Cordell with the Tennessee Valley Coalition for the Homeless. "The homeless population is continuing to increase in the county and we don't have any emergency shelters."
More than 600 people are homeless in Campbell County, according to Cordell.
Within hours of the announcement that the shelter would open, dozens of volunteers packed the shelter with food, blankets and warm clothes for those in need.
"Our church came together and said we want to do something to help," said Brandon Dunford, whose church Faith Promise Campbell County donated nearly 20 bags full of food and blankets. "In this community there are a lot of people who live without air conditioning and heat. When it's hot outside or cold outside, that really affects this community a lot."
The shelter is located at 300 W. Beech St. in LaFollette.