Clothing drive begins during Thanksgiving

President Hunter Rawlings (back row, fourth from left) and Elizabeth Trapnell Rawlings (front row, fifth from left) help kick off Share the Warmth this week in the Memorial Room of Willard Straight Hall. Others helping coordinate the clothing drive on campus include, from left, front row: Long Zheng '02, Cornell Economics Society; Gigi Chang '00, Cornell Economics Society; Musarrat Islam '01, Cornell Economics Society; Mary Swansbrough, Campus Life; Elizabeth Rawlings; Emma Sisti '02, Ecology House; and Matt Held, Campus Life; and back row: Clara Tuan '03, Cornell Economics Society; Allison Szeliga '00, Alpha Phi Omega; Bill Anderson, Campus Life; Hunter Rawlings; Cecil Hover, Campus Life; Eric Hull, Campus Life; Kenneth Sutfin, Campus Life; and Gary Atkins, Campus Life. University Photography

The seventh annual "Share the Warmth" clothing drive will begin Nov. 27 throughout the Ithaca area, including the Cornell campus. The project is cosponsored by Cornell campus organizations Ecology House, Alpha Phi Omega, Hillel and Campus Life and by the Ithaca Rotary Club and Catholic Charities.

Coordinators of the event ask Cornell students, faculty, staff and Ithaca residents during this Thanksgiving season to gather and donate clothing they no longer use, in particular winter clothing, such as coats, sweaters, hats, gloves, scarves, earmuffs, thermal underwear, mittens and boots. The clothing will be distributed to the homeless and to many Tompkins County residents in need of warm clothing for the winter season.

Share the Warmth donation centers on the Cornell campus will include: Willard Straight Hall, the Statler Club, Big Red Barn, Robert Purcell Community Center, Noyes Community Center, Ecology House and all residence halls. Four Ithaca-area community donation centers include: Center Ithaca, Pyramid Mall (mall entrances to Ames and J.C. Penney), Borg Warner Transmission Plant cafeterias and the Judd Falls Laundromat at East Hill Plaza.

Donated clothing will be collected by Cornell Campus Life Housekeeping Services, under the supervision of Dale Walter, and delivered to Ecology House. There Cornell students and staff, working with local Rotarians and others, will sort donated clothing from 4 to 6 p.m., Dec. 6, after which, with the help of Catholic Charities and other local service agencies, it will be distributed to those in need.

For further information about the Share the Warmth clothing drive, contact Loralyn Light at 255-4760 or ll48@cornell.edu.