The Warmth for Winter tree, located on James Street in Parry Sound, is stocked and ready for its third season.
The initiative, run by Parry Sound’s own Stephanie Jay, started in 2020 when COVID-19 forced local shelters to stop accepting donations.
Jay says she still wanted to do something around Christmas time, so she started posting some winter clothing and pinning them to the tree closest to her home.
“It kind of exploded [from there] and the community wanted to donate and I saw that there was a really big need for it here in the community, so I’ve continued it ever since,” she says.
Jay packages and labels items folks would need for the wintertime including gloves, mitts, hats, long Johns, jogging pants and socks which she says is a big one for the homeless community in Parry Sound. She then pins them to the tree and the community just goes and helps themselves.
“I have had a handful of people come up to me and thank me. It kept them warm one day when they forgot their hat. I got an e-mail from a counselor one day, she was working with one of her clients and they were walking past the tree and she really needed a scarf. She found a nice scarf on the tree and apparently she was just the happiest person,” she says.
Jay says it’s just a small thing that she could do to help the community in the winter. She says the community has been “awesome”, adding she couldn’t do it without their generosity.
Anyone interested in donating items for the tree can drop them off at Jay’s official donation spot at White Squal Outdoor Store on James Street during the store’s business hours.