The University of Connecticut’s Women’s Center is holding a Winter Warmth Drive for the Holy Family Shelter in Willimantic this month. (Hanisha Lewis/The Daily Campus)
The University of Connecticut’s Women’s Center is holding a Winter Warmth Drive for the Holy Family Shelter in Willimantic this month.
The Women’s Center, located on the fourth floor of the Student Union, began accepting donations on Monday, Nov. 12 and will continue accepting donations until Friday, Dec. 7. Donations can include clothing, as well as other items needed by those in the shelter, Kalliope Sanderson, co-chair of the Women’s Center Programming Committee, said.
“We are accepting new and used warm clothing such as shirts, pants, jackets, sweaters and warm accessories for women and children,” Sanderson said. “Sheets, blankets, pillows and towels are also being collected.”
The drive is being held to support those in need at the Holy Family Shelter in Willimantic, CT, Sanderson said. The Holy Family Shelter is a homeless shelter for women and children and is located roughly 15 minutes away from UConn.
“We are choosing to donate to Holy Family because they are a nearby shelter, nonprofit, and the shelter is for women and children,” Sanderson said.
The drive was organized by the Programming Committee at the center, which holds events and initiatives like film screenings, discussions and other interactive activities at the Women’s Center throughout the year, Sanderson said. The committee meets on Tuesdays from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Women’s Center.
Students are encouraged to visit the center and donate what they can, if they can, Sanderson said. Other fundraisers and drives are expected to pop up throughout the weeks leading up to finals in light of the holiday season.
“Most people have these items,” Sanderson said. “So, it is a great way to give back this holiday season and give to those in need.”
Before Thanksgiving break, UConn’s Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) organized a paper towel drive for Windham’s No Freeze Hospitality Center.
“The Windham Region No Freeze Hospitality Center is designed to give homeless people in the Windham area a place to stay, according to its website,” The Daily Campus reported last week. “RUF, a smaller Christian group on campus, hasn’t held a fundraiser before but has been wanting to do something helpful that a group its size could manage.”
Miranda Garcia is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at miranda.r.garcia@uconn.edu.