Share the Warmth
Each winter, AAPI physicians and their families deliver blankets, jackets, hats and socks to shelters, rescue missions and food banks in their own communities.
Why it matters
Warmth is a health need
Cold weather is dangerous for people without stable housing. Physicians see it every winter: hypothermia, frostbite, and illnesses made worse by nights in the cold.
Share the Warmth gives AAPI members a simple way to help close to home. Local chapters buy and deliver warm items to the shelters and agencies that serve their neighbors, and AAPI national matches the funds chapters raise.
How it works
From a chapter meeting to a warm night
Chapters raise funds
Local AAPI chapters and members raise money each fall. AAPI national matches what chapters raise.
Pick a local partner
Each chapter chooses shelters, rescue missions, food banks or community agencies in its own city.
Pack and deliver
Physicians, families and students pack blankets, jackets, hats and socks and deliver them in person.
Every winter
Drives run from Thanksgiving through February, when the need is greatest.
From the drives
Highlights
Where we've been
Some of the places we've served
Recipients have included rescue missions, Catholic Charities, hospital emergency teams, a veterans' center at the Newburgh Armory, community shelters and food banks.
Photo archive
Every winter, year by year
35 photos. Open a season, then select a photo to see it larger.
Winter 2019–20The first season13 photos
The program begins as Share-A-Blanket over Thanksgiving and the holidays, first organized by the New Jersey chapter, and chapters in Ohio, Tennessee and beyond deliver blankets to shelters and rescue missions.
Winter 2020–21Giving through the pandemic2 photos
Masked volunteers kept deliveries going during COVID-19.
Winter 2021–22More chapters join9 photos
Chapters in Connecticut, New York and Tennessee deliver holiday kits of blankets, hats and socks.
Winter 2022–23Nearly 30 chapters take part2 photos
About 3,000 people received blankets. In Georgia, the chapter brought blankets to families left without power after a tornado; in Connecticut, blankets went to LifeStar, local EMS and the Hartford Hospital emergency department.
Winter 2024–25Arkansas and Alabama7 photos
Winter jackets and blankets in Arkansas, and blankets labeled “Warm Holidays from AAPI Doctors” in Huntsville.
Winter 2025–26Winter drive at a food bank2 photos
Bring Share the Warmth to your chapter
Any AAPI chapter can join. AAPI national matches chapter funds and shares what has worked in other cities.