March 2025 Zine
This zine covers Abbey Shackleford, a Whitley county resident who has been working to make a difference in her small town, Williamsburg, KY. Abbey and her husband Dalton started the warming boxes in the fall of 2024. These warming boxes may include a toboggan, thermal socks, gloves, a 50x60 fleece throw, ponchos, or hot hands body warmers.
In addition to mutual aid work and her demanding job working in Human Services, Abbey also rescues cats and dogs. Her big heart and Human Services experiences have driven her to make a difference in her community and encourage others to do the same. “I can’t house everyone, but I can help keep others warm.” Abbey stated when asked about the challenges of helping others. “It’s not that difficult time wise to help. It’s doable. It can be expensive, but others in my community have stepped up to help. You don’t have to have anything fancy or a huge team to make a difference.”
“I can’t house everyone, but I can help keep others warm.”
Abbey is one of many individuals who have been successfully filling the needs of her community, “The boxes are anonymous. Don’t ask, don’t tell. But I have been told people are appreciative online. All positive responses. These boxes let people within the community know that they aren’t being overlooked. By putting the boxes out there it puts pressure on the people who have more power to step in and do more. Little things add up.”
If you would like to do something similar in your community or neighborhood, Abbey helped us with an outline of how she made the warming boxes:
"If someone is watching this and thinking, ‘I want to help, but I don’t know where to start,’ what would you say to them?" and "What advice would you give to someone in another town who wants to start something similar?"
If you have the means to do it, do it. All I did was use a regular sized tote and put items in it.
Figure out a place to put them out. This is the first step but you can put them anywhere you have permission to put them.
Budget - do whatever can afford or reach out to others to build a fund - donations - and community support.
“There are even cards in the box to request specific items because one time someone picked through all the boxes. Sometimes people need more than one of something. So I put the cards in the box to help.”
Abbey stated she’d be willing to help anyone set up boxes in their community. And to keep up with her warming boxes, you can follow her on her personal Facebook page.
