Share the Warmth clothing drive begins Nov. 15 at CU

The 10th annual "Share the Warmth" clothing drive will begin Friday, Nov. 15, on campus and later in the Ithaca community and at Ithaca College.

Helping kick off the annual Share the Warmth fund-raiser in Willard Straight Hall, Nov. 5, are , from left to right, back row: Dick Page, Ithaca Rotary Club; Susan Murphy, CU vice president for student and academic services; President Hunter Rawlings; Ken Mori '04, recycling committee of Ecology House; Peter W. Alexander, Campus Life; Perrin Bignoli '06, Ecology House; middle row: Jonathon Hyde, residence hall director, Ecology House; Joanna Eng '05, Ecology House; Josh Bonaventura-Sparanga '05, Ecology House; Deb Mohlenhoff, coordinator of community service, Ithaca College; Pattie Gordinier, Campus Life; and, kneeling in front, Mike Mott, Campus Life. Nicola Kountoupes/University Photography

Co-sponsored by Cornell's Ecology House and Office of Campus Life and the Ithaca Rotary Club, the project calls on students, faculty, staff and Ithaca residents, during this Thanksgiving season, to contribute clothing they no longer use -- particularly winter clothing, such as coats, sweaters, hats, gloves, scarves, earmuffs, thermal underwear, mittens and boots. The articles will be distributed to the homeless and the many Tompkins County residents in need of warm clothing.

Donation centers on the Cornell Campus include: all residence halls, the three community centers (Robert Purcell, Noyes and Appel Commons), Anabel Taylor Hall, Big Red Barn, Goldwin Smith Hall, Mann Library, Statler Hall and Willard Straight Hall. Donated clothing will be collected by Campus Life Housekeeping Services, under the supervision of Dale Walter, and by students on Ecology House's recycling committee, who have taken on Share the Warmth as a fall project. All clothing collected on the Cornell campus will be delivered to Ecology House, to be sorted Dec. 9 from 4 to 6 p.m. by Cornell student and staff volunteers, local Rotarians and others.

There also will be Share the Warmth donations centers in the Ithaca community, starting Wednesday, Nov. 20, and, for the first time, on Ithaca College's campus, starting Monday, Dec. 2. The Ithaca collection sites include Borg Warner Transmission plant cafeterias (three sites), Pyramid Mall (two sites), Center Ithaca, P&C Market at East Hill Plaza, Tops Markets and Wegman's, both on South Meadow Street. The Ithaca College sites include all residence halls and a number of public buildings. The community sites were lined up by Rotarian chair Dick Page, and the Ithaca College sites were organized by Deb Mohlenhoff, coordinator of community service on that college's campus.

Last year over 7,000 articles of clothing were collected by Share the Warmth, said Loralyn Light, events manager for Cornell's music department and a Share the Warmth volunteer. Organizers of this year's project hope to surpass that total by reaching out to the entire community, including both campuses, to help those in need, she said.