Warmth From the Millyard

When our Community Leadership class first started planning the Warmth from the Millyard winter clothing drive, I was extremely skeptical about the amount of clothing we would get. Last years drive got 800 items of clothing, and I thought that at the most, we’d be able to get 1,000 items. That was just me being optimistic though, I didn’t actually believe that people would donate nearly as much as they did last year because of how bad the economy is doing. As the word spread about the drive, the clothing started POURING in. We had over 800 items before the drive even started! It amazed me that even in this time of economic crisis, people were still willing to help others. Some people even donated brand new clothing!

I had never realized what a huge problem homelessness was in Manchester, or New Hampshire in general. I had always known that it was a problem, but since I had never seen it, I didn’t think twice about it. I hope this drive helps make the public aware that there IS a huge problem, and that this drive was just a short term solution. We need to start thinking about long term solutions. One idea our class came up with is starting a clothing bank. That’s just the beginning though.

This drive made me realize what a huge impact a small group of people can have, so if you have an idea, go for it! By the end of the drive, I had a huge change of heart. I realized that there are still good, caring people in the world, and they make themselves even more known and come together during desperate times. The recent ice storm we had confirmed this even more so. I saw people getting together to help remove trees and clean up debris. People were opening their houses to family, friends, and even strangers. I’ve seen signs up at people’s houses saying “free water”, “we have heat”, etc. I am so devastated to see all the damage this storm has done, but it fills my heart with joy to see how much people are willing to help.

-Maren Bhagat