There are many in the community, especially the homeless, who view winter as a time of struggle just to stay warm.
Kay Langford expects to see a bigger need this year for items donated in the Warmth for the Winter program.
Warmth for the Winter provides new and slightly used blankets, coats, gloves, hats and scarves to the homeless.
The program will run through Jan. 15 and donation sites are at Temple Fire and Rescue fire stations throughout the city.
Ms. Langford, who volunteers at the Churches Touching Lives Through Christ food pantry on Avenue G, has gotten to know many of the homeless and less fortunate in the Temple area. She said she also became familiar with the homeless while involved in weekly church services at Jones Park.
Ms. Langford has worked with the Warmth for the Winter program for three years and because of her constant contact with the homeless population she’s familiar with their needs.
The needs of the homeless or low-income are constant, whether it’s cold or hot, Ms. Langford said, but during the winter, warm clothing and blankets are a necessity for survival.
“There is a great need for blankets,” she said. “There are people who sleep in their coats and gloves because the houses where they stay don’t have adequate heat and there are no blankets.”
Sheila Rogers, community liaison for Scott & White Hospice and Homecare, began Warmth for the Winter after she moved to Temple to begin nursing classes in 2003.
“I had a little time before classes began and I had always had a concern for the homeless, especially in the winter months,” Ms. Rogers said.
The first year of the coat program, she said, she did it all on her own.
“I found out it was overwhelming,” Rogers said.
Over the years, the program has been patchworked together, with the help of Temple Fire and Rescue and Ms. Langford, to become what it is today, she said.
“We’ve tried to focus on just items that will keep the people on the street in our community warm,” Ms. Rogers said.
The winter clothing and blankets will be given out as donations come in, and Ms. Langford has already begun to identify people in the community who will need the items.
Ms. Langford said she has added a neighborhood in Belton to the locations where she will be distributing the coats and blankets this year.
“Without Kay’s help I would not have been able to do this,” Ms. Rogers said of Ms. Langford. “I just wouldn’t have the time to get out there and find the people who need this help.”
