EDMONTON -- Operation Warmth, a youth charity organization, donated 150 bags of clothing on Tuesday to homeless Edmontonians at the Bissell Centre and the Edmonton Convention Centre.
“A lot of us were expecting a bit less due to COVID, we weren’t expecting so many people to donate,” said Avishek Airi, co-founder of Operation Warmth.
The group was founded four years ago by high school friends. They support larger organizations like the Bissell Centre, the Edmonton Food Bank and WIN House.
“We wanted to give back to the community that raised us to be how we were and we decided to do a clothing drive,” said Airi.
This year the group had to get creative with the donation drive, they organized contactless pickups from donors. The drive was also only two weeks, less than in previous years.
“For people donating, they’re happy since this is a safer alternative to what they usually do,” said Airi.
Over their four years of operating the group has collected nearly 1,000 bags of gently-used clothing.
