Freeport Community Services has made its 12th annual Freeze Out much more doable for the staff and volunteers who stand outside on a midwinter day, collecting food, personal care items and money for people in need.

This year’s Freeze Out, scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 20, will be a 12-hour event instead of the 24-hour grind of the past. Volunteers, working one-hour shifts, will accept donations from the public from 10 a.m.-10 p.m., in front of First Parish Church Congregational, Linda Bean’s Kitchen & Topside Tavern, Starbucks and Freeport Village Station. Sue Mack, former community services coordinator for Freeport Community Services, used to stand outside the church for a 24-hour shift, going inside the church only for brief rests.

“In 10 of the last 12 years, the weather has been brutal,” said Melanie Sachs, executive director at Freeport Community Servies. “We had concerns for people’s safety.”

The mission of the Freeze Out remains the same: Raise awareness of the poverty and hunger in Maine and the critical need for services locally.

Sachs said that the Freeze Out is well-timed.

“I love this event,” she said. “It highlights the need for help and assistance in the coldest part of the year. It brings people together for a very warm cause. It’s post-holiday and these issues aren’t necessarily on people’s needs.”

To help the volunteers, the Freeport Elders Association has knitted red mittens for them to wear during their shifts.

Sarah Lundin, who succeeded Mack as community services coordinator last spring, said the Freeze Out is also an opportunity for Freeport Community Services volunteers to engage with the public outside the Freeport Community Center.

“I think it’s going to be a really, really fun time,” Lundin said. “We’ll have lots of volunteers. I think it’s going to be really incredible to see the community partner with us in this event.”

Lundin said she will be “here, there and everywhere” during the Freeze Out. She will help “stuff the bus” with food items at Shaw’s, a Freeport Rotary Club project.

“I think there will be a lot more people to interact with this year,” she said.

Support for the Freeze Out is provided by lead sponsors Norway Savings Bank and Midcoast Hospital, as well as Freeport Woman’s Club, Dead River Oil, Charlie Burnham Heating, Albert Blackstone Jr. Excavating, June LaCombe Sculpture, New Beginnings Consignment Shop, Mainely Hair, Fielding’s Oil, Freeport Salon and Royal River Natural Foods.

Freeport Community Services volunteer Jamie Rodel, left, and board member Karla Seaman collected food, personal care items and money for people in need in last year’s Freeze Out, at the entrance to Freeport Village Station. This year’s event is Feb. 20.