Get Involved

Help Us Warm Hearts Two Hands at a Time

Be part of the solution

Donate

When winter hits Detroit, it hits hard — especially for those who are unhoused or in transition. We all know how much colder a day can feel without gloves.

For thousands of children and adults across our city, a simple pair is a luxury they can't afford.

Thanks to people like you, Mittens for Detroit has worked with nearly 100 Distribution Partners to put 375,000 pairs of new mittens and gloves across Detroit, Hamtramck, Highland Park, Dearborn, and Pontiac. It's a small thing that makes a big difference.

Now we're setting our sights on next winter — and our goal of 30,000+ new pairs. Your tax-deductible gift helps us purchase mittens and gloves when our Community Collection can't fully meet the needs of the shelters, schools, veterans' groups, and agencies we serve.

Donate by Check:

Made out to Mittens for Detroit and mailed to:

Mittens for Detroit
Attn: W. Shepherd
PO Box 721427,
Berkley, MI 48072

Increase your Impact

Join our Handwarming Heroes Circle

Since Handwarming Heroes Circle began in August 2018, our monthly heroes have donated more than $33,000 as of August 2026!

We very much appreciate our generous monthly donors – we hope you will join Team Mittens with a donation today! Thank you! (Sorry… Cape is not included!)

Becoming a Handwarming Hero is an easy way to support MFD all year long!

As a Handwarming Hero, your recurring monthly gift (starting at just $10) helps us plan ahead and stay strong through the summer months, when donations typically slow down.

You'll also get perks as our thank-you: advance notice of events, discounted fundraiser tickets, MFD Merch discounts, and the occasional surprise goodie!

Volunteer Opportunities

The Big Sort

Come Sort with Us!

Every winter Mittens for Detroit distributes an average of 20,000 pairs of new mittens and gloves — and none of it happens without volunteers.

It's hands-on, it's fun, and many Big Sorters come back year after year. It's also a great fit for businesses, schools, sororities, fraternities, clubs, and social groups looking for a meaningful teambuilding experience or a holiday activity with heart. And we're known for our great snacks!

That's where The Big Sort comes in. From September through March, groups of 2–15 people spend 2–3 hours at our downtown Detroit office sorting pairs by size, counting them, and boxing them up for our Distribution Partners.

Become a Corporate Partner

Mittens for Detroit is fortunate to have a great array of businesses and companies sharing their energy and resources to support us in many creative ways. Here are a few examples that you and your company can provide new, warm mittens and gloves this year:

Kids Helping Kids

Mittens for Detroit is helping kids help kids, making it easy for them to take action on behalf of others. Kids can’t do it without their grown-ups, and we hope that you will help them at their schools, clubs, and organizations.

Within a couple of years of our first collection, a large share of the mittens and gloves we received were coming from kid-led drives: school projects, scout troops and religious groups.

Through MittenRaisers in Novi, Dearborn, Farmington, Grosse Pointe, and beyond (even an elementary school near Albany, NY), young people are keeping their neighbors warm.

Lemonade stands, robotics team drives, knitting circles: kids with adult supporters find creative ways to become Jr. Philanthropists.

Adults become Jr. Philanthropists’ best teammates when they cheer on the lemonade stand, help the robotics team set a goal, or pull up a chair at the knitting circle.

Any of these activities can become MittenRaisers. Every pair they collect helps their communities stay warm during Michigan winters.

#GivingWarmthIsCool!

Here's How Kids Can Help MFD:

Plan a Big Sort Event at MFD

Kids ages 16 and older can come to our office to count, sort, and box up pairs for pick up by our Distribution Partners.

Earn Community Service Hours

The work young volunteers do to help others stay warm can be counted towards community service hours since Mittens for Detroit is a 501(c)3.

Coordinate a MittenRaiser

Coordinating a MittenRaiser with student council, a scout troop, or part of a religious celebration are all great ways for young volunteers to help their communities.

Make Mittens!

Mittens have been handmade since prehistoric times, when humans found out that they could create coverings for their hands! We’ve come a long way since those early days, and the pairs Mittens for Detroit receives show so many variations on a theme! The one constant is that people who make mittens understand their purpose – to provide warmth for hands on cold winter days.

Why Mittens Matter: From Our Volunteer Partners

We had the pleasure of supporting Mittens for Detroit for our annual department charity. As the coordinator, I chose MFD because of their mission, values, and because it is a local charity.

Being in the Energy industry, I thought It was the perfect fit for us!

The simplicity of MFD’s core mission is refreshing: Uncover a pressing need in the community and then provide meaningful support to a solution.

We held a Mitten-raiser that was two weeks long and included games and prizes and even a “mitten-meter” which displayed how many mittens we collected. We exceeded our goal by more than double!

The Mitten-raiser was such a success and we had a blast.

Knowing that we can make a difference in people's lives one pair of mittens at a time is a great feeling.

We are proud to support the great work MFD is doing!

Kara Cox | UX Designer
Plymouth Energy

I want to tell you how thrilled I am to be able to collect mittens and gloves for Mittens for Detroit, once again.

This will be the 5th year that Galilee Chapter-JWI will be participating in a collection for your fantastic organization.

I first heard about Mittens for Detroit in a press release in the Detroit Free Press. I brought it to the attention of my JWI group and everyone enthusiastically agreed that it would be added to our donor list.

Each year I privately set a goal for our group to see if we can outdo ourselves from the previous year and sure enough, we skim right past last year's mark and jump further ahead.

I am excited to see what this year brings!

I can't begin to tell you the feeling of fulfillment it brings to me to know that we are providing something so simple to those in need. The job that you are doing is amazing and you shine every step of the way.

The job that you are doing is amazing and you shine every step of the way.

Thank you, again, for letting me and my group be a part of your mitzvah each year.

I am excited to see what this year brings!

Mimi Markofsky| Galilee Chapter-JWI

Kathleen Lomako | Executive Director, SEMCOG

SEMCOG, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, has been an active supporter of Mittens for Detroit for many years.

It’s an easy ask of staff to contribute a new pair of mittens or two as part of holiday giving.

We’ve lately gotten involved in sorting mittens and it’s been a great teambuilding exercise. Staff who participate are enthusiastic about the experience.

We truly appreciate Mittens for Detroit’s mission and efforts. It is easy to be supportive as it supports SEMCOG’s mission to improve the region’s quality of life.