LYNN — Just in time for a cold, white Christmas, one family spent their holiday spreading warmth for the homeless. Project Warm at Heart held their 2nd Annual Hat and Glove Drive at My Brother’s Table on Christmas Eve.
Crystal Falta, her husband Michael Biasetti Jr., and their teenage daughter Taryn, co-founders of the project, collected more than 100 gloves, scarves, hats, socks, and toys to give out to homeless people seeking refuge and food.
“Last year we just dropped them off at the Green Street women’s shelter and couldn’t hand them out personally and we would rather be hands on with it,” said Falta. “We just wanted to make sure they knew someone out there, besides the shelter employees, was thinking of them.”
A year ago over a cup of coffee, just before the holidays began, Falta and her husband were discussing what they could do to give back to the community. A cup of brewed thoughts is how their project to keep the homeless warm began.
“We always see them outside Dunkin’ Donuts, Shaw’s, or the shelters, being cold and waiting for dinner,” said Falta. “Everyone deserves to be warm, that’s our motto.”
In the project’s first year, Falta and her family have created a Facebook page where they consistently post updates regarding donation collections. They also held a donation jar at this year’s Annual Fun N’ Flea Day. In order to shed more light on the project’s purpose, Biasetti appeared in an interview that was aired on LynnCam TV.
“At first it was a little shocking to see over 145 people being homeless and it pulled at my heart until I saw how thankful they were as I passed out the hats, gloves, and scarves,” said Falta. “Every year we hope to top what we did the year before.”
Project Warm at Heart can be reached at [email protected] for any questions or personal donations. They also keep a donation box outside on their porch year round and plan to create a GoFundMe page by next October.
