James Symons wanted to make sure that everyone in the Niagara Region felt the warmth from the community this holiday season.

So the Brock alumnus (BRLS ’11) came up with the idea to create a ‘tool box’ for homeless men in the Niagara region after hearing about the many initiatives for women and children in the community and wanted to create a resource for men.

“I was inspired to give back as a student during my time at Brock and am so thankful for the positive experience I had while at University. I am still in touch with several individuals from Brock who proudly supported me in this initiative,” said Symons.

He collected items for the Tool Box Project from the community and assembled them in donated shoe boxes to distribute across the region. The shoebox items varied and included socks, underwear, hygiene products and a warm winter toque.

“It was great to see the Niagara community come together to help spread the word about this project,” Symons said.

Late last week he gathered colleagues, friends, family and community members to assemble boxes for distribution. After setting a goal of gathering enough items to fill 25 shoe boxes by Dec. 15, so many donations were collected that the group was able to fill and distribute 361 boxes to homeless men across the region.

“It took 25 individuals an hour to complete the task, which was a small miracle after we ran out of, and then replenished, boxes, tape and wrapping,” Symons said.

“The support has been incredible,” he said, “I can’t wait until next year.”