Making Life On The Streets A Little Warmer

San Francisco (CBS 5)  -- The holidays are a whole lot warmer this year because of the work of one North Bay man.

Eleven years ago, Bill Hamm offered his gloves to a person in the street, and his gesture of good will didn’t end there. For one day in December, Bill and his team of volunteers canvas city streets to give away gift packs to the homeless, and brighten their lives along the way.

“I was in Union Square, saw a homeless man sitting outside Tiffany rubbing his hands, and I gave him my gloves and thought I could do more," Bill recalls.

Over the years, Bill raised money, recruited friends, and tapped his Marin Community to help with the non-profit he founded called "Warm Wishes." Last year, they raised enough to give away 5,000 packs full of gloves, socks, a poncho and Christmas card.

"The most common response you hear is ‘God bless you,’" says Bill.

But this year’s Warm Wishes almost didn’t happen. Bill says it has been difficult to raise funds since last year’s tsunami. His job as a legal videographer can only make up for so much, and his wife, Nina, was recently diagnosed with recurring breast cancer.

"It’s a little too much work for not having a staff. We’ve never paid an employee, and I think if you want to grow to the next step, and I’m not thinking I'll be the one to take it there,” Bill says.

Bill’s wish this year is that someone may help take over and continue to fulfill the dream he began. The same dream that has his volunteers returning.

“It’s a feeling that once you give your first pack to someone, and you look in their face, you know the difference it has made,” says volunteer, Pat Davidor. “We’re not here to judge people and why they’ve come to that point in life. We’re here to make another human being warm for the winter.”

For taking a gesture of kindness to the streets of San Francisco, this week’s Jefferson Award goes to Bill Hamm.

By Kate Kelly

For more information on how to help Warm Wishes, visit their website at www.warmwishes.org.