The Big Sort

With an average of 30,000 pairs of new mittens and gloves donated every winter, Mittens for Detroit is fortunate to have great volunteers who help us get these onto the hands of people in need. They volunteer in The Big Sort.

The Big Sort is actually a series of little Big Sorts, which occur from September through March every year. Groups ranging from 2-15 people spend 2-3 hours processing the pairs. It’s a very hands-on and fun experience, and many Big Sorters come back year after year. It’s a great teambuilding or holiday celebration for your team or group.

Our Community Collection Partners bring the pairs they collect to our office located in downtown Detroit (by Campus Martius) where volunteers sort them by size, count them, and box the pairs for pick up by our Distribution Partners. Working together, the volunteers have a meaningful volunteer experience. Dates and times are flexible, and we would love for your business, social group, school, sorority, fraternity, club, and more come to work together to warm hands and hearts.