As the winter weather approaches, Kel Long, Drew Benton, and the Three-Oh-We-Go team prepare for another year to take on the streets and provide the homeless of Atlanta necessities to brave the cold weather.
The partnership was a chance meeting when one cold night Long was distributing feet warmers to those sprawled in Downtown Atlanta. He got inspired to hand out feet warmers after seeing a man sleeping outside when it was below 30 degrees. “I thought about how much it would mean to me if I were in the situation, so I went and bought out all the feet warmers at the sporting goods store. As I was distributing them, I ran into Drew and some people who were passing out blankets, coats, and other things,” recalls Long.
Benton was distributing the winter items through his nonprofit organization, Project Live Love, which provides hands-on opportunities for community outreach. “Through the project, we used to go out every night,” said Benton. “After meeting Kel, we decided to start this project on an as-need basis.”
They developed Three-Oh-We-Go as a winter homeless rescue program that hits the streets at 9 p.m. as people start bedding down for the night—specifically, when the nightly temperature is expected to be below 30 degrees. Through texts, emails, Facebook and Twitter, over 300 volunteers are alerted of the need and assemble at City of Refuge in downtown to distribute blankets, hand and foot warmers, socks, gloves and more.
The initiative runs from Nov. 10 through March 30 and is always looking to expand its outreach. “We would love to have more volunteers sign up and come out for distribution because it’s a simple necessity and it means a lot to the people who are at the receiving end,” added Benton, who used to work at SafeHouse Atlanta.
Additionally, Benton and Long encourage groups to donate blankets, socks, shoes, and other winter items to contribute to the effort.
“We never thought about how much a simple foot or hand warmer could mean to someone,” added Long. “Three-Oh-We-Go has made a bigger impact than we could have imagined, and with the community and volunteers, we can continue to help those in need.”
To volunteer with Three-Oh-We-Go, visit projectlivelove.com
In Other News: Hilton Atlanta team members volunteered at the Atlanta Day Shelter for Women and Children and the Atlanta Children's Shelter during the Global Week of Service that took place Nov. 11- 18. The effort had a total of 300,000 volunteers who took part in hundreds of projects impacting local communities as well as 90 countries and territories.
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