Scarf Bombing

An excerpt from the Washington Post - 

‘Scarf bombing’ is helping keep people warm in the winter months

The act of leaving handmade garments in public places when it’s cold out has spread across Canada and the U.S.

By Sydney Page

A "scarf bomb" in Pittsburgh in December 2022. (Scarf Bombardiers)

The 14 handmade scarves were a mystery.

Ten years ago, they appeared around the necks of famous statues in Ottawa on a chilly January day. Each scarf was tagged with a note that read: “I am not lost! If you are stuck out in the cold, take this scarf to keep warm.” It was later revealed that a few university students were behind the good deed.

The incident went viral, and is part of a movement now known as “scarf bombing” — leaving handmade scarves in public places to warm people up during the winter months. The scarves are typically tied around fences, benches and railings, and are especially intended to support those experiencing homelessness.

                                                     Scarf bomb groups typically tag every item. (Scarf Bomb Jax)

While the Ottawa scarf bombing was the first to go big online, the phenomenon had already arrived in other places, including Winnipeg.

The scarf bombing movement has spread across Canada and the United States — including in Maryland, Virginia, Iowa, New York City, the Twin Cities and Jacksonville, Fla.

“Most of us are doing it because that one person did,” said Michelle Chance-Sangthong, who saw the Ottawa story online in 2014 and started scarf bombing in Jacksonville. She created a Facebook group called Scarf Bomb Jax and has recruited dozens of volunteers over the past decade. They range in age from their teens to their 80s.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2024/02/02/scarf-bomb-winter-homeless-kindness/