Find a good home for your unused clothes

You probably have a few pieces of clothing in your closet that you haven’t worn in years. It’s easy to find them a good home. Ryerson social work student Christine Gordon is leading an initiative to offer lightly used clothing items to people who are homeless or underprivileged city residents.

Gordon started Walk 4 Warmth (external link)  as an informal project in 2012, collecting clothing from friends and family. “Before I started here at Ryerson, I was working part-time at a drop-in centre where a lot of the members would come in very, very cold, without adequate clothing,” said Gordon. “One day I posted on Facebook asking my friends if anybody had an extra winter coat for a gentleman specifically, and I ended up with a living-room full of donations and nowhere to put them.

“I ended up organizing an event, and a lot of my friends came down to volunteer. We got a vehicle, I made a bunch of sandwiches, and it basically just started from there, and has escalated.”

For Gordon, the charity has a personal dimension. “I’m six years clean and sober from a really life-crippling addiction, and I experienced homelessness. That’s also what catapulted me into school here in the social work program, and is a big part of why I do Walk 4 Warmth. I’m from Barrie and moved here in 2012, and I noticed that homelessness is more obvious here. Ever since, I’ve been involved in homelessness—whether through school or work or volunteer-based.

“It’s hard to go out into the areas that are really affected by homelessness and see people suffering and struggling. The hardest part is, we can only do so much. I’m grateful for what we do, since handing somebody a coat or a sandwich and seeing how grateful they are is amazing. But so much more needs to be done.”

Gordon joined Ryerson through Spanning the Gaps, and the Chang School would later partner with Walk 4 Warmth for events in winter 2016 and 2017. The most recent event, held on January 31, collected two large vehicles full of items from the Ryerson community. “When it gets really cold, and people hear about shelters being overfilled, people are inclined to participate and donate.”

Looking ahead, Gordon hopes to hold a summer event, and to register Walk 4 Warmth as a charity. “When I first started, it was bigger than I thought it would be, but it’s huge now,” she said. “We have 700 members on our Facebook page (external link) , and I have people who message me from outside the city to offer or ask for donations. I’m grateful that Spanning the Gaps has given support to this project that was just a little idea in my head one day.”

For more information see the Walk 4 Warmth Facebook page (external link) .