Middletown High School junior Emma Wilkinson is running a charity drive from early November
through the end of December with her family, raising money for the homeless in
Washington, D.C.

Wilkinson has been doing the project with her family since 2015 after they read
multiple articles online about freezing conditions in Washington, D.C., as well as witnessing a
homeless man with purple feet due to cold temperatures.

The project is primarily keeping the homeless safe and warm during this cold
winter season, according to Wilkinson.

“We need a lot of backpacks and sweatshirts. We also need smaller items like
hand warmers as well,” said Wilkinson.

While the program is primarily run by family, help from others is always
appreciated.

“It’s pretty small. We like to keep it small, but our end goal is to get as many
supplies out as possible,” Wilkinson said.

While the charity is newer, it has grown more each year.

“This year, our goal was to fill 30 backpacks with our goal for next year to be
topping that,” she said.

MHS students can help the cause with donation boxes set up in the rooms of Daria Baldovin-Jahrling, Sharon Steger, and Gretchen Martin, as well as the media center