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Last week’s polar vortex that battered a large portion of the Midwest had many people concerned about how homeless populations would remain safe during the dangerously frigid temperatures.
There were news reports of people freezing to death in different states, and the threat was real for thousands of homeless people who routinely sleep outside through the winter.
In Chicago, a group of homeless people had been camping in tents and using propane heaters to stay warm until one of the tanks exploded. The Chicago Fire Department confiscated the remaining heaters after the explosion, and the group was left without any good options as the freezing polar vortex descended on the city.
In an amazing gesture of kindness, an anonymous person decided to step in and put 70 people up for several days in a hotel on the South Side.
Update: we now know the identity of the generous people who paid for the hotel rooms last week. It wasn’t one wealthy person, but a group of volunteers who used their own money to pay for the rooms. A woman named Candice Payne reportedly got the ball rolling, as you can tell by her Instagram post.
Payne said, “This is just regular people trying to help.”
Great work, Candice! Let’s all be thankful there are people like her out there doing good work.