Nominated by
Christian Kirsebom
September 13, 2014
Warm Winters was started in 2011 (originally named K & C Care) by Katrine Kirsebom and Corinne Hindes, who were 11 year-old 6th grade students in the San Francisco Bay Area. They are both avid downhill ski racers at their respective local Tahoe Ski Race Teams, they are best friends who wanted to give back to the less fortunate. Together, they decided to ask their ski resorts to donate the unclaimed lost and found clothing so they could donate it to the homeless on the streets, and Warm Winters was born! Since 2011, Warm Winters has donated over 5,000 items of warm clothing, helping over 2,500 homeless people. We are now working with the Jefferson Awards, co-founded by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, as part of their GlobeChangers leadership training. With the Jefferson Awards, they are going national. In the next five years, their goal is to be in 10 states, work with 50-60 ski resorts, and distribute warm clothing to 50,000 homeless people. Although Warm Winters was created to benefits others, it has helped them discover their passion for helping others and has allowed them to grow as people. They describe their experience to be life-changing due to the fact that it has helped them find their compassionate side, which has improved their school experience and has helped bring out the happiness in others because they now see people in the community trying to bring out the caring part of people. It has also helped them to become more grateful because they now know what it is like for homeless people in the streets, before starting Warm Winters, they could barely walk by a homeless person because we thought they were harmful, but they now are friends with them and stop to talk to the people they know. Corinne and Katrine's communication skills have improved immensely because they now have regular business calls and interviews, as well as talking to the homeless people inside and outside of shelters constantly. They truly have an amazing passion for helping others.