On Friday morning, the polished wooden floors of the PCYC basketball court were covered with nearly 100 blankets, all kindly donated by the people of the region as part of the first blanket drive spearheaded by local radio station Magic 87.6.
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The multicolour spectacle was the culmination of a month-long campaign dubbed 'blanket midwest', which called on residents to donate blankets, hoping to bring some respite to those sleeping rough in the region.
Andrew Andrews from Magic 87.6 said he was stunned at the response.
..." it's been an amazing response from the community. Lots of people talking about it, lots of people are aware and lots of people have gone above and beyond as well which has been phenomenal," Mr Andrews said.
"It's exceeded all our expectations and it does feel amazing. I'm super happy that we could do this for those people that are roughing it at the moment and the people that are thinking about turning electricity on. This is our little give back to the community."
Donna Rouse from OCTEC Employment dropped off five brand-new doonas as the blankets were being laid out, saying
"From the girls at OCTEC, Liz [Lovett] and Donna, we just hope it helps," Ms Rouse said.
"Liz and I are helping young people out all the time because the can't afford anything, especially on youth allowance, we've got people sleeping under the bridge, in their cars... we as a community have to do everything we can to help these people."
Anyone that needs a blanket or two can collect them for free at the We Care Community Shop in Byron Place. Donna Collins who runs the shop said the community's need for support has never been higher.
" I don't think we've had such a response to a campaign since the drought days, so I could not believe the generosity of the community to buy all the new blankets... that just blew me away," Ms Collins said.
Andrew said he plans to run the blanket drive again next year with even loftier goals.
"Let's do it every May, let's see how we go and if we can make it an annual thing. I don't know if we will ever get enough blankets to cover Glen Willow but we all need to dream big," he said.
"It's a good goal to have but, you know, we're super proud that we've just managed to get the number that we got and we're super happy to help Donna out and the We Care Shop in the community in this way."
Donna said anyone that needs a blanket only has to ask.
"They can just come in and see me or they can send me a message or make contact and we'll organise blankets for them," Ms Collins said.
"If you're feeling a bit embarrassed to come in through the front door just call us at the back door and the staff will help you out with whatever you need.
"Just come and ask and you'll be given you know with the grace that it was donated to us."
