One Maine student’s creative solution to help Portland residents stay warm this winter
By leaving a cold-weather essential on city light poles.
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Winter can be a tough time for anyone, but especially so for those who find themselves without a warm home to go to…or just a warm coat. One Maine college student is trying to change that by providing winter jackets to the homeless.
Gabriella Kaper is a 20-year-old Portland native who has been purchasing coats from Goodwill and leaving them outside for the city’s homeless to take, Good Morning America reports. With every jacket, hung on a light pole instead of left on a bench, she leaves a note that reads, “I am not lost. Please take me if you need me.’’
Kaper started her Goodwill goodwill when she visited her local store and bought five coats during a $1 sale, according to GMA. She left the coats around downtown Portland and they were all gone the next day.
Portland already got its first snowfall in November and has been experiencing below-freezing temperatures since then. Approximately 200 people are in the city’s homeless shelter on an average night, according to GMA.
“I plan to go back every Monday for as long as it’s cold out,’’ Kaper told ABC News. “If I help someone, then I feel like I accomplished something.’’
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