Backstage in Steinbach lost its heat source on one of the coldest days of winter.

"It was probably the first week of January, one of the staff had come in, the carbon monoxide detector had been going off," recalls Executive Director Rueben Singh. "We find out that our boiler is no longer working."

Singh says thanks to some temporary heat sources, they were able to have all repairs done without having to shut down the drop-in centre. However, they were left with a very unexpected fix worth $12,000.

"Not something that you have budgeted for," admits Singh. "You don't typically ever expect to walk into work one day and say, 'oh, time to replace the boiler.'"

Singh says they had some money in their reserve funds to cover the cost, but that creates a ripple effect, impacting other areas where that money could have been used.

"January is typically a slower time for funding," says Singh. "(The fix) takes away from taking us through the slow time right now."

Meanwhile, staff is busy planning the annual Festival of Friends fundraising banquet, scheduled for March 2nd. It will take place at Steinbach Mennonite Church. Singh says there are still tickets available.

The banquet historically brings in between $30,000 and $35,000. Singh says funds from the banquet go into their general account to keep the building operational. He says the banquet will help cover the cost of the boiler repairs.