Introduction
Winterization is a community service project in which students from Purdue University assist in preparing the yards and homes of the elderly and disabled in Tippecanoe County for winter.
Winterization 2024 will take place on the morning of Saturday, November 9th. Volunteers will rake leaves, clean gutters, wash windows, trim shrubs, and do other winterizing tasks for the residents.
Conversation with the residents is also important. Many of the residents are unable to leave their homes regularly and have few visitors. This year we are hoping to have over 400 residents who are eagerly awaiting for us to “Winterize” their homes.
Winterization History
For many years, a high school in Greenwood, Indiana has sponsored a similar project. In the Fall of 2002, a Purdue freshman named Lauren brought the idea to West Lafayette. As an active member of Wesley Foundation Campus Ministry, Lauren inspired her new community to lead this project. The first year, in 2002, saw thirty volunteers serve ten homes.
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Winterization has surpassed many milestones over the past 20 years, including:
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2005 -- 100 volunteers
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2008 -- 100 homes served
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2013 -- 1,000 volunteers
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2017 -- Our collection of rakes grew to over 1,000!
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2019 -- 380 homes served by 1,350 volunteers
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2021 -- Our biggest year yet! 1,600 volunteers
Winterization 2023 was a complete success! We were able to serve over 350 residents with over 1,400 volunteers.
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Many student groups have co-sponsored this activity with Wesley at times in the last six years, including the Baptist Foundation and Launch Campus Ministry. Student participants come by themselves, with groups of friends, and also through their student organizations.
CREW
WHO ARE THEY?
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CREW members make Winterization happen by volunteering behind-the-scenes and helping with the organization, leadership, and advanced planning of the event.
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CREW is made up of 20-30 enthusiastic, service-minded individuals who are interested in becoming more involved with community service and our mega-service event.
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Weekly meetings on Tuesdays at 6:30pm at Wesley Foundation (200 N. Russell St., across from the Honors College)
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WHAT DO THEY DO?
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Collaborate with other members within 4 different committees:
Volunteers - Designing and hanging flyers; chalking; distributing information to campus organizations (religious groups, sororities/frats, clubs, etc.) about volunteering for Winterization. Sends out mass-emails to current students (via SAO), previous volunteers; maintains Winterization Instagram page. They also contact local newspapers and television stations with press releases; arrange interviews, articles, and advertisements.
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Residents - Responsible for recruiting and contacting individual residents interested in utilizing our service; phone calls and emails with elderly residents of Greater Lafayette to inquire type of work needed; postcard advertisement.
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Work Teams - Records current supply list (supplies include: rakes, tarps, ladders, clippers, newspapers, spray bottles, etc.), contacts organizations and businesses for additional donations, responsible for monitoring supply use, and making sure all borrowed supplies are returned. This division uses an online program to plot each house we will be servicing. Proficiency with computers is a must, excessive use of Excel and mapping software.
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Food - In order to provide free breakfast and lunch to all volunteers, members of the Food committee are responsible for acquiring food donations from local businesses, contacting businesses via phone, and preparing the appropriate amount of food to be served to volunteers.
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