As winter approaches, it’s important to stay warm.

On Tuesday, representatives from United Way of Oxford & Lafayette County delivered 200 blankets to nonprofit Interfaith Compassion Ministry, located here in the Lafayette-Oxford-University community. Over the years, United Way and Interfaith have partnered up on dozens of projects, and Lena Wiley, executive director of Interfaith, is thrilled to have these blankets:

“There are residents in the LOU community who do not have adequate heat for their homes,” she said. “They’ll be receiving blankets. We will work to make sure the homeless in our community have a blanket as well. There are too many people in this area who need a blanket like this for the coming winter.”

United Way worked closely with a company called With A Purpose, which developed the “Blanket for a Blanket” project. 

Josh Helland started the company in 2013 with his eyes set on alleviating homelessness. When someone purchases an Ole Miss-branded blanket, a non-branded blanket is donated to United Way or Gateway Rescue Mission, a faith-based nonprofit that works to address homelessness in Mississippi. Buying a blanket is a great way to represent Ole Miss and help someone else keep just as comfortable when it’s cold outside. To date, With A Purpose has donated 26,500-plus blankets nationwide.

Nick Bundra of With of Purpose said the organization chose United Way because “it has an incredible reputation for allocating resources (including blankets) where the local community most needs them.”

United Way of Oxford and Lafayette County is an independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to “improve the lives by uniting people and resources.” United Way funds programs that focus on ensuring that all Lafayette County residents have the building blocks of a good life: quality education, good health and stable income.

Each year, 99 percent of the dollars raised in Lafayette County stay in Lafayette County (with 1 percent going to United Way Worldwide as a membership fee to the global network).