CLEVELAND — Winters in the Midwest can get dangerously cold and can even be life threatening for those experiencing homelessness.

This is why the Sub Zero Mission, a nonprofit located in northeast Ohio, has made it their goal to support unsheltered and homeless individuals across the Midwest, with the motto “nobody should freeze to death in America.”

James Hido, the director of marketing and communications for the Sub Zero Mission, explained that the organization donates life-saving warming items directly to those experiencing homelessness during the winter.

“So our teams go into the woods. We identify them. We tell them who we are. We are not there to harm them. We are there to help them survive through the night,” Hido said. “We have them follow us to the bus. We come out, grab the warming items. From there, they will then exit, go back to their camp, and then we will go on our way.” 

The Sub Zero Mission is a veteran-founded organization that’s been helping those in need for 16 years.

They have ‘Sub Zero Mission’ branded busses that volunteers fill up with warming items like tents, sleeping bags and warm clothes they take to homeless encampments in the region. 

Hido said, so far, this season they’ve done more than 29 missions in five states and have helped more than 1,000 people in need. He said this winter the organization has seen an increase of those in need.

During the non-winter months, the mission works on raising money and gathering warming items for the next season. 

They are always looking for donations of lightly used or new essential winter items.