With September comes the start of One Warm Scarf’s busiest season, as bags of scarves, socks, coats, boots and other warm clothing begin arriving at the Doylestown home of Meryl and Anthony Russo.
The couple will spend the coming months sorting through the donations, loading their car and personally delivering them to homeless shelters and organizations in Philadelphia and Allentown.
The goal of One Warm Scarf, the nonprofit the Russos founded in 2017, is simple — help people experiencing homelessness stay warm while reminding them that they are seen, valued and cared for.
“What these donations are doing is providing people with warm comfort and saying to them, ‘We see you, we hear you, you matter, we’re here to help you,’” Meryl Russo said.
Now entering its ninth annual collection season, One Warm Scarf has grown from a project focused primarily on handmade scarves into an organization that distributes thousands of essential clothing items to people experiencing homelessness.
Since its founding, the organization has donated more than 8,000 items, including handmade scarves, coats, hats, gloves, sweaters, sweatshirts, pants, hoodies, boots, sneakers, socks, T-shirts and new undergarments.
And despite the growth, One Warm Scarf remains a two-person operation.
“It’s just the two of us running this,” Meryl said.
There are no paid staff members and no volunteers. Every donation that arrives is handled by the husband-and-wife team, from sorting and inspecting each item to packing the donations into their car and making the deliveries themselves.
That hands-on approach begins at their Doylestown townhouse, where the growing collection has gradually taken over more and more space.
“I get so many bags delivered to our house that I can’t find my husband sometimes through the bags,” Meryl joked. “I have to say, ‘What room are you in?’ And then I follow his voice.”
On one occasion, an organization delivered 40 bags of clothing.
“It took up my whole front porch,” Meryl said. “I couldn’t get out the door. I had to go out the garage door to get the clothing.”
Meryl said she checks outside her door every morning to see what donations have arrived.
“Every day is Christmas over here because the first thing I do is come downstairs and go look outside the door to see what donations have come in,” she said.
The first deliveries will begin this month, before the coldest weather arrives. Meryl and her husband will continue making deliveries as late as February.
The couple drives every donation themselves because they do not have a van.
“Sometimes we jam close to 20 bags of donations into our little car,” Meryl said.
They make separate trips during a week, traveling to Allentown and Philadelphia, and sometimes making multiple trips in a single day.
“It’s a labor of love for us,” Meryl said. “We’re so thrilled to be helping that we don’t mind making these trips back and forth.”
The idea for One Warm Scarf began more than a decade before the nonprofit was founded.
In 2006, Russo’s sister called her and told her about encountering a homeless man near a fruit stand in New York. He had asked her for 50 cents to buy a banana.
“I had never done any volunteer work at this time, but I just started to cry so much for a couple of hours,” Meryl said. “And I said to myself, no human being should have to ask for money for a banana.”
That experience stayed with her.
From 2006 to 2017, Meryl collected clothing for people experiencing homelessness and partnered with local fitness clubs. Eventually, she and her husband noticed something missing from many of the donations they saw.
“We saw a lot of coats and a lot of gloves, everything but scarves for the homeless,” Meryl said.
The couple founded One Warm Scarf with the primary objective of collecting scarves for the homeless. The first year, they collected about 300 scarves. Most were handmade, knitted or crocheted by people in the community.
The scarf collection continued for a while, but over time, the project evolved as donors began bringing other items they believed people needed along with the scarves.
“People have been so generous dropping off items,” Meryl said. “They would put things in little bags that I wasn’t even asking for, like coats or a pair of boots.”
In 2022, One Warm Scarf expanded its collection to include new men's and women's socks and undergarments and men's T-shirts because those items could not be donated secondhand.
“Socks are the number one item requested,” Meryl said.
The organization accepts new men's and women's socks and undergarments, men's T-shirts and gently used or new winter clothing. Russo is particular about the condition of used items.
“We are very particular about what we accept,” she said. “We won’t accept anything with holes or stains or odors.”
The couple personally examines and sorts everything that arrives.
For Meryl, the work has become nearly a full-time job during the busiest months.
“My husband has a full-time job, but when it gets close to the winter, we sometimes work 22 hours going through all these donations,” she said.
For Meryl and her husband, the long hours of sorting and the miles spent driving donations are part of the mission.
“It’s such a wonderful feeling when the guys come running out from the shelters and help you take out your donated bags,” she said. “There’s always a handshake, there’s always a hug, there’s always a thank you.”
Meryl said she does not pretend that One Warm Scarf can solve homelessness.
“We can’t break the cycle of homelessness, but Anthony and I can do our little part and that’s what we do,” she said. “I feel like we are making a difference.”
That philosophy is rooted in two simple principles she and her husband try to live by.
One comes from one of Meryl’s favorite quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is what are you doing for others?”
The other is simply: “Be kind.”
This year, Meryl hopes to reach more people, support more shelters and organizations and collect more of the items that are most needed, particularly socks and new undergarments.
She also hopes to continue expanding the organization’s reach... although the growing number of donations may eventually force the couple to find a larger space.
“I hope to continue to expand,” Meryl said. “And I will eventually need a warehouse because we are drowning in donations.”
Russo also wants to recognize several local supporters who have gone above and beyond for One Warm Scarf: Donna Godshall of the Prayer Shawl Ministry of Calvary Church in Chalfont; Melinda Mondel Levandoski, in honor of her mother; Jacquie Lewis; and the Kalmia Club in Lambertville, New Jersey.
For those who want to contribute, donations can include handmade scarves, new socks and undergarments, men's T-shirts, coats, hats, gloves, sweaters, sweatshirts, pants, hoodies, boots and sneakers in good condition. An Amazon Wish List also offers a way to purchase needed items and have them shipped directly to the organization. Visit onewarmscarfproject.com to see the wishlist and for additional information.
Those interested in bringing by donations can call 215-290-8420 or email onewarmscarf@yahoo.com for the donation address.
