Cleveland-based nonprofit for homeless to host winter clothing drive in Campbell

Staff report

CAMPBELL

A Cleveland-area nonprofit that distributes clothing to the homeless wants to branch out into the Youngstown area this winter.

SubZero Mission, a nonprofit that hands out coats, sleeping bags, blankets, hats and gloves to homeless people, will have a winter-clothing drive from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday in the parking lot at Roosevelt Park off Struthers-Liberty Road.

Tony Vavlas, 48, of Campbell plans to have a box set up at the park throughout the day for people to donate warm items for the homeless people in Youngstown.

Vavlas said he heard about SubZero Mission last winter after meeting Al Raddatz, founder and CEO of the nonprofit. He said he immediately was passionate about the project.

“The project is to basically save lives, making sure no one on the streets freezes to death,” Vavlas said. “I’m going to make every attempt to distribute what I get locally or send it to area organizations that give these items to the homeless.”

Men’s extra-large coats are in highest demand for SubZero Mission. Raddatz said the reason for that is because the nonprofit tends to find more men than women on the streets. He also said women also like the larger coats because they keep them warmer.

SubZero Mission launched as a nonprofit in 2008 in Perry, Ohio, near Cleveland, primarily to collect coats, sleeping bags, hats and gloves for homeless people in the Cleveland area.

Raddatz said he started the nonprofit after chatting with some people at a Veterans of Foreign Wars post on a cold night.

“We kept thinking there are all these homeless people, so how can we help?” Raddatz said.

Raddatz said he and a couple of friends banded to create the nonprofit, and he said it has grown each year to go to more cities.

Vavlas said another donation drive likely will take place in Hubbard in a couple of weeks.