When the temperatures drop below freezing, Denver Rescue Mission sees the need for hot meals double. Not only are there more people coming into the shelters that need to be fed, but the Rescue Mission also provides hot food to the City's cold weather shelters. Both those factors spread the food budget pretty thin. 

"It's probably the most difficult part of the job to figure out on a budget how to feed as many people as we do, but it's the best part of working at the mission," said Steven Kreis, a Chef at Denver Rescue Mission.

The chefs at the Rescue Mission make hot meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner -- 365-days a year. They do it all with mostly donated food.

"Working on donations, we're not sure what we're going to have until we have it," Kreis explained. 

They create each dish with whatever is stocked in the walk-in. The Mission relies on community support to bridge the gaps. When the price of eggs went from $.08 a piece to $.50 each, money donations made up the difference. 

"It's amazing how the community comes together to support us. We cannot do this without people volunteering, their time, their resources, their energy, so it's a community effort," Kreis said. 

Kreis sees his mission as building people up physically and spiritually with a nourishing meal. 

"Every person who comes through the line, we hand a plate to, we ask them how they're doing. We get to interact. We get to know our guests. It's really a great experience to serve a hot plate," Kreis told CBS News Colorado. 

Each of those hot plates is served with a side of hope. 

"Hope that there is somebody there that's going to help them get back on their feet," Kreis said. 

CBS Colorado's Spread the Warmth Campaign supports the work of the Denver Rescue Mission. The Mission needs donations of money as well as winter weather gear including, winter coats, knit hats, gloves, scarves, and winter weather boots.