Skip to main content

Faces of OW

Faces of OW


Over the last 23 years, Operation Warm has built a network of people who care about and support children in need

 

These are the faces that help to tell the story of who we are.

Meet our partner - Hope Williams

When refugees began arriving in the U.S. after the urgent August 2021 evacuation of Afghanistan, many wore flip-flops and lacked the warm clothes they’d need for the approaching cold-weather season. “This population left Afghanistan with a few bags, the clothes on their backs, and their most prized possessions,” said Hope Williams, Human Resource Program Management Analyst at U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). “They arrived needing everything from life-saving critical health care to information on how to start their new lives.”

“Our mission was to welcome our Afghan guests with a smile—and with dignity and humanity—to get them acclimated to the United States and able to build up their resilience,” said Williams, who acted as a liaison to coordinate much-needed supplies. Ensuring that everyone had what they needed required thinking creatively and making connections with NGO partners that could provide various necessities.

One such partner was Operation Warm, which delivered more than 13,000 coats and pairs of shoes to Afghan children living on eight different military bases.

 

 

Meet our Board Member - Willie F. Bailey. SR.

Willie F. Bailey, Sr., deputy fire chief of Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, likes to remind his firefighters that when they’re not responding to 911 emergencies, they can find other ways to serve as a positive force of change in the community. That’s exactly what Bailey set out to do while working as a firefighter in the 90s. Noticing kids huddling together for warmth at local bus stops, Bailey began collecting used coats, having them cleaned, and redistributing them through organizations such as schools and shelters. “[I recognize the struggle because] I grew up poor, on a farm, with no running water,” Bailey explained. “I didn’t get a brand-new coat until I was a sophomore in high school.”

Then he met Operation Warm’s founder, Dick Sanford, who had a similar story: looking around and realizing that kids in his community lacked basic necessities. Bailey began collaborating with Operation Warm and has served as a partner and funder for nearly 12 years—six of those as a member of our Board of Trustees.

 

 

 

Learn more about our past features


Our Impact

  • Years of Service

    25

  • Children Served

    5,000,000+

  • Communities Served

    4,086

  • 2022 Volunteer Hours

    125,000

  • Subaru
    Subaru
  • Five Below
    Five Below
  • FedEx
    FedEx
  • Thomas
  • Exelon
  • Money Mart
  • Elks National Foundation, Inc.
  • The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
  • Pat's Coats for Kids
  • Morgan Stanley
  • WW Smith
  • Wells Fargo
  • Auto Dealers CARing for Kids Foundation
  • Abercrombie & Fitch Co.
  • Rotary District Clubs and Distrcits
  • Mountain America
    Mountain America
  • bpx energy
  • Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Louisiana
  • Gerber
  • IAFF Local 2068 Fairfax County
  • PNC
  • Nordstrom
  • EQT
  • Operation North Pole
  • Rock 99.9 KISW
  • Scott Spino Foundation
  • Heinz
  • Marathon Petroleum
    Marathon Petroleum
  • Amazon
    Amazon
  • Assistance League
    Assistance League
  • Bonzy
    Bonzy
  • Civitas
    Civitas
  • Fox Milwaukee
    Fox Milwaukee
  • Harvey Hanna
    Harvey Hanna
  • Hasbro
    Hasbro
  • Holtec
    Holtec
  • IATSE
    IATSE
  • Islamic Relief
    Islamic Relief
  • Kaiser
    Kaiser
  • Lennox
    Lennox
  • LIUNA
    LIUNA
  • Marathon
    Marathon
  • Ocean First
    Ocean First
  • The Salvation Army
    The Salvation Army
  • The Tepper Foundation
    The Tepper Foundation
  • NYC
    NYC
  • Molina
    Molina
  • Wawa
    Wawa
  • Accenture
    Accenture
  • TJX
  • Nordstrom
    Nordstrom
© 2024 | Operation Warm, 50 Applied Bank Boulevard, Glen Mills, PA 19342 |

Powered by Firespring