"It is really amazing," said Judi Nester, organizer of "Share the Warmth," a four-week effort of a local group calling itself HOPE -- "Hope, Organize, Promote and Enrich Our Community."

Since donation boxes were placed at local businesses Dec. 23, nearly 800 items have been collected, with HOPE members making pick-ups once a week. One hundred three pieces of clothing were collected the first week; 272 the second week; 419 last week.

Almost 150 of the items have been coats or jackets, 118 are hats, 98 are sweaters and fleece tops. The rest is a mix of scarves, sweatshirts, pants, shirts, vests, gloves and mittens, shoes, socks, boots and some nonperishable food items.

With a little encouragement from HOPE, donations sites are competing to see who can collect the most items. To date, the collections reflect the following pieces of clothing per site:

•Captain's Coffee Roasting Company: 258;

•Fritz Creek General Store: 51;

•Homer High School girls basketball team: 50;

•Homer's Jeans: 84;

•Kachemak Gear Shed: 58;

•Safeway: 149;

•Spenard Builders Supply: 36;

•Ulmer's Drug and Hardware: 85.

Adult-sized items still lead the way, with only about 100 collected in children's sizes.

Nester said she had jokingly asked Bob Malone, manager of Safeway, why the supermarket was in second place

"I said I couldn't believe Captain's Coffee was beating them ... and he said he thought (Captain's Coffee owner) Ty Gates was coming in at night and taking things out of the (Safeway) box," a laughing Nester said.

Gates, however, credited the generous patrons of Captain's Coffee.

"We just put the idea to a lot of people and they said it was a great idea," Gates said.

Even though an impressive number of do "Share the Warmth" winds up Jan. 18.

"A friend that lives on East End Road called and her husband went to dump their trash and found three huge bags of clothes there," Nester said of a discovery at a waste transfer site near McNeil Canyon. "He picked them up, she's gone thru them and there were several coats and sweaters."

Sunday is the last day to donate new or gently worn, clean clothes to "Share the Warmth." Nonperishable food items also are being accepted. Remaining donations will be collected Sunday afternoon, delivered to the Homer Community Food Pantry and sorted according to size by HOPE members that evening. On Monday, the items will be distributed by food pantry personnel to anyone needing an extra layer of warmth this winter. Anything not taken locally will be distributed to food pantries in Anchor Point and across the bay.

"The response from the community has been incredible," Nester said. "I'm just overwhelmed by it all. Very impressive."

McKibben Jackinsky can be reached by mckibbenjackinsky.@homernews.com.