We collected 407 bags (approximately an $8,000 value). This fell short of our goal of 1,000 bags, but still it was an excellent number considering the economy.

     The bags were distributed in the Tampa Bay area through five distribution hubs. First, 341 sleeping bags were distributed on December 21 in coordination with T.H.O.R.N., an outreach program that feeds 300–400 homeless at 3 locations in downtown Tampa every Sunday. Then 30 bags were given to the Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County for a ceremony held on December 22 honoring the homeless who died in the county in 2008 (364 homeless died in Florida last year, 69 in Hillsborough County). Sleeping bags were given to the homeless men and women who attended the ceremony. Also, another 36 bags were distributed through the soup kitchen at St. Francis Catholic Church in Seffner.

     Thanks to Tamela Maly and her friend, Jeanette, we distributed boxes and boxes of really nice, freshly washed coats, jeans, winter shirts, sweaters, shoes, and more (see Tamela’s story below).

     The kindness and generosity I have witnessed since becoming a part of HelpKeepWarm.org has been overwhelming. Just one story out of many: One couple (Vicki & Mac), who sponsored a large number of sleeping bags, sent letters (see below) to their friends and family letting them know that for Christmas they had sponsored sleeping bags for the homeless in their name. After reading Vicki & Mac's letter, I realized that I wish I had started my son on something like this when he was young, an act of giving in his name to replace two to three of the 10–20 presents he usually received for Christmas! He might not have appreciated it at the time, but perhaps it would have become a tradition to pass on to his own children. I'm sure many of you already do this with your organization of choice. . . . I'm curious if the tradition continues. If you have a story to share, please send it to me at: ricki@helpkeepwarm.org.

     Rose Bowman, a friend and HelpKeepWarm.org volunteer, sent a letter out to all of her clients — Rose’s rally brought in 75 bags ($1,500) in one week! Bringing her brother, Gene, one night, and her friend, Marie, another night, Rose showed up at HelpKeepWarm.org's storage facility, working for hours to help prepare the bags for distribution, unpacking them and marking them "not for resale."

     On distribution day, Cheryl, Danielle, Gene, Jeanette, Marcia, Marie, Rose, Tamela, and Vicki gave their time to hop from location to location handing out bags to the homeless. We hope you enjoy the pictures of this special time — just click here to view.

     As we were distributing the bags, a nice looking homeless man, who looked to be in his fifties, took the bag that was handed to him and seemed very grateful. A few minutes later he came back and asked for the mailing address of our organization, saying, “I won’t always be homeless and one day I would like to repay the favor, thank you.”

     So we don't get caught with our bag inventory down when the cold weather hits, we will start rallying for bags in October 2009 and distribute them just before Christmas. For those of you who didn’t get around to visiting HelpKeepWarm.org in 2008, we would love to become a part of your holiday traditions this year — right along with the turkey and giblet gravy and your favorite holiday sweater!

Have a healthy, prosperous 2009!  Ricki