After helping a pair of Occupy Toronto protesters fuel up a generator, and checking in on another for whom he set up a tent the previous night, Michael Vessey sits heavily on a bale of hay in the northeast corner of St. James Park.

As he wipes gasoline from his grease-stained hands another protester stops by to inquire about the man who has assumed much of the responsibility for keeping roughly 250 protesters fed, sheltered and healthy.

“You get some sleep?” the man asks.

“About three hours every three days,” Vessey answers. “Since day one.”

Two weeks after a tent city materialized in a park on King St. W. near Church St., its growing population is preparing to settle in for the cold months ahead.

But as the Occupy Toronto community expands, keeping it funded and functioning becomes more complex.

“More people means more problems,” Vessey says. “There’s all this money coming in and we don’t know what to do with it.”

Each day, Vessey says, Occupy Toronto Organizers gather with members of the group’s various committees to count that day’s cash donations. Witnesses are encouraged to ensure transparency.

While the group works to establish a credit union account, Vessey says they still hide the cash in a series of secret locations. The total has surpassed $40,000, but he says the group has spent less than $1,000 so far.

“If I need something I write it up on the donation board and it shows up almost immediately,” he says.

And with protesters becoming increasingly settled “something” can mean almost anything.

The group’s cluttered logistics tent contains a laptop computer, a printer and a toaster-oven, among other devices plugged into several power strips.

Behind the tent is a free store, where protesters and passersby are invited to donate goods or pick up things they need.

“It’s a well-functioning community,” says volunteer Jude Marion, as someone stuffs $10 into the donation box at the logistics tent. “There’s a slew of people who drop by with blankets and warm socks.”

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And more.

On the table in front of the tent a small basket containing everything from toothbrushes to baby wipes to condoms and a sign that says “take one.”