It’s not often you see someone’s face light up over trash bags and nine months of hard work, but that’s exactly what you get when Gina Wenger talks about Winter Warmup.
Did we say nine months? Make that 21 years.
“I started this to show people they could help others without needing money to do it,” Wenger said, who lives in the Harper community. “Now it’s a tradition and many people look forward to it every year.”
This year’s warmup, held Saturday, Dec. 10, at the Logan County Fairgrounds, opened its doors at 9 a.m. At that time they had around 300 trash bags, which the team was certain would be more than enough.
They were out of bags 13 minutes later.
Wenger added, “We had a kitchen full of totes that still had to come out at 9, but we had everything sorted and on a table by 10.”
Which was, it would seem, just in time considering how quickly a line formed out the door. The annual event offers free coats, clothes, shoes and whatever else they have to people in the community free of charge. Anyone in need can show up, grab a trash bag, and fill it with as much stuff as necessary.
And it’s a lot of stuff.
Fortunately, Wenger had plenty of help from volunteers and her mom, [Lisa? – I asked but haven’t heard back yet … Mandy, do you know? If we can’t find out, probably just delete it?], who, Wenger admits, pretty much runs the show. She also won’t allow her daughter to start collecting donations any sooner than March.
But once the contributions start rolling in, the real work begins, from organizing coats and clothes and other items according to size, gender and use to folding everything and getting it all placed in the aforementioned totes. The amount of time and effort involved truly makes it a labor of love. And it’s not just clothes. They collect shoes, housewares, bedding, toys and games. A wall covered in stuffed animals was also there and gone fairly quickly.
Some of the volunteers come in for the actual event, while others prefer to help out behind the scenes.
“People just want to do something,” Wenger concluded.
“Whether it’s pastors offering to pray with people in need or the guys who show up at 1 to help clean up and carry bags to cars.”
The organization raises what little money it needs through fundraisers, most notably providing meals at the fairgrounds while cars line up for the August Hot Summer Nights Cruise-in.
Though they originally ran the warmup out of Harper Community Church then the First Friends Church (Bellefontaine), covid put an end to that. Fortunately, the Logan County Fairgrounds board was quick to donate the space they needed.
Winter Warmup always takes place the second Saturday in December. Start looking for how you can be involved in March 2023.