High 5: Keeping Homeless Utahns Warm – One Scarf At A Time

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The winter season is only just beginning, and the temperatures are expected to drop further in the coming months.

That means things are going to be even tougher for Salt Lake City residents who are dealing with homelessness.

There is one volunteer group, though, that’s doing its part to keep those people a little warmer. On a recent cold, foggy Saturday morning, the volunteers were out hanging scarves and hats on the fences at Liberty Park.

These items are all handmade, knitted by hundreds of volunteers during the past year. Each item has a little phrase on it that’s intended to brighten someone’s day: “I am NOT lost or forgotten and neither are YOU!! I was handmade for YOU! If you are cold and need me, please take me to keep warm!!”

Suzette Aposhian started a group called Scarfs in the Park a number of years ago. There’s one group in Salt Lake City and another in Tooele.

“The first year, we had a little over 300 items,” she said. “Last year we had, like, 1,300. And this year — almost 2,000.”

All the items made last year are placed in a storage room, and there’s a lot there. All the scarves and hats were knitted by all kinds of people — older, younger, Boy Scouts, and knitting clubs — all of whom want to make a difference.

“(There’s) Every shape and size and color,” Aposhian said as she sorted through a pile of scarves and hats.

Liberty Park was just one are where the items are being passed out. Other parks will be on the list as well.

America First, one of the sponsors of the KSL High 5, dontated $250 to the organization for materials and advertising.

Scarfs in the Park is just another example of how something very small — like knitting a scarf — can go a long way.