SNOHOMISH — About 20 volunteers here are scurrying to plan and prepare a cold-weather shelter for those without a warm bed, before temperatures drop.

“There is a need,” said Snohomish Community Food Bank Director Elizabeth Grant, who is helping organize the shelter. “When it gets cold, it’s a whole other level of survival out there.”

Many of the people who use the food bank do not have access to a stove or microwave, Grant said. Last year, she noticed an increasing demand for self-heating meals. She got three grants so the organization could provide two hot meals for each person on Tuesdays and Fridays from November to March. When people started showing up in greater numbers for food for those meals, Grant knew a warm place to sleep was also needed.

The Snohomish Evangelical Free Church, at 210 Ave. B, plans to host the shelter. There are separate sleeping areas for about 20 people. One is designated for the men and another for women and children.

The shelter is to open Nov. 1 and operate through February on nights when the temperature drops to 32 degrees or below.

The Monroe Cold Weather Shelter, which found a permanent home last year on Main Street, lent its handbook of policies and procedures to the Snohomish organizers. They modeled their guidelines after Monroe’s.

Now they’re recruiting volunteers and gathering supplies.

They’re looking for donations of such items as mats, blankets, cleaning supplies, snacks, pet crates and toiletries. They also need a trailer for storing the supplies and a place to park it.

At least two volunteers are needed to cover each shift once the shelter opens. One crew will come check people in and get them settled. Another will stay overnight. A third shift will make breakfast and clean.

Volunteers need to complete Medical Reserve Corps training, which includes CPR and first aid, before they start work at the shelter. Insurance will be provided.

Grant said homelessness is a growing problem in Snohomish County. The shelter in Everett has to turn people away.

“We’re so concerned about what’s happening in other countries, but guess what — it’s happening in our own backyards,” Grant said.

People interested in volunteering should call 425-220-2217. They can attend a meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Snohomish Evangelical Free Church.

Donated supplies can be dropped off at the Snohomish Community Food Bank at 1330 Ferguson Park Road.