Yarn Harbor distributing hats and gloves to “Warm up the City”

In just a couple of weeks there will be snow in the Northland, and it’s important to have your winter clothes ready. But for people experiencing homelessness or families struggling to keep their kids warm it can be a difficult time. For the past ten years, Kathy Thomas, the owner of Yarn Harbor, has coordinated the annual “Warm up the City” event. This allows volunteers to donate and distribute hundreds of hats, gloves, but also other knitted gear for people in need.

“We collect winter accessory donations and put a little tag on each item saying, ‘I am not lost, if you need me, take me,’. Then we have distribution day, which is today, and so you’ll see them around the city,” Thomas said. “We generally have about 10, 12 distributors and hundreds of donations, at least 500 donations every year.”

The volunteers distribute the winter clothes in a yarn-bombing fashion. Leaving the hats, gloves and scarves on fence posts or statues, in parks or even bus stops. Toni and Tess are a couple volunteers for the “Warm up the City” event. They have knitted, but also distributed the winter clothes, for the past few years. On Saturday morning they spent around an hour placing hats and scarves around the rose garden at Lief Erikson park.

“This is for anybody. So sometimes there’ll be people coming from another area who don’t know that Duluth is cold,” Toni said. “They’ll come through here, and we’ll realize they need something warm,” Tess added.

Yarn Harbor always need volunteers for the “Warm up the City” event says Toni and Tess. But you don’t even need to know how to knit to help. Folks you can “Warm up the City” by handing out the handmade winter clothes.

“Yarn Harbor likes all of their volunteers. We’re happy to do something that will make people warm. It’s important,” Toni said. “I hope to see one of my homemade hats on a person somewhere in town. I’ve always wanted to see that,” Tess said.

For more information about the “Warm up the City” event you can read more here. Also for other stories happening in Duluth you can read more here.