Concerned members of the Carbondale community gathered at the Carbondale Public Library Saturday to combat the cold.

SIU social work interns, the Black Graduate Student Association and the Carbondale Public Library co-sponsored a warming event and made over 60 no-sew scarves for those in need.

Shyenda Jacobs, a graduate student studying social work and one of the coordinators of the event, said the goal was to make as many scarves as possible to distribute throughout the community.

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Over 28 volunteers helped accomplish this goal and were stationed at various tables with a specific job to help make the scarves quickly and efficiently.

There was a station for cutting where colorful fleece was measured and cut to size, stations where volunteers knotted the scarves to keep them from fraying and a table that tied cards to the final product.

Some of these tags contained messages of hope, such as “Spring is coming,” others contained words of affirmation and encouragement, such as “You are seen,” “Stay warm, you matter” and “I hope this scarf keeps you warm.”

Joy Greer-Medley, one of the organizers of the event, said the social work interns had never done an event like this before and she thought it was really successful.

More volunteers attended than anticipated, Greer-Medley said, despite the snow and weather.

Greer-Medley also said she thought it would be important to plan an event that would give back to the community, while including those who may not have had the opportunity to help otherwise.

“Families who wouldn’t necessarily have a vehicle or a method for actually touching the homeless population in town, it would allow them an opportunity to do something nice for people who they see in the library and don’t necessarily come into contact with,” Greer-Medley said.

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Morgan Bates, a graduate student studying teaching English as a second language and a member of the Black Graduate Student Association, said she believes the scarves will really mean something to people.

“I think it’s really important to just give back,” Bates said. “It’s really cold outside and I think these scarves will mean something good to the community [and to] people who are out there who may need them.”

Renee Eldridge, President of the Black Graduate Student Association, said the event is a way of extending a message to the homeless community that they have friends both on campus and in the community.

After the event, several of the scarves were tied to trees and lamp posts around the library and the rest were distributed to the Carbondale Warming Center, Good Samaritan House and the Women’s Center.

Staff reporter Kallie Cox can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @KallieC45439038.

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