Augusta woman on a mission to hand out ‘go bags’ the homeless

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) -Day or night, the cold temps have been unforgiving for everyone.

We do have shelters, but not everyone can make it to one, not to mention the requirements and restrictions in place.

One woman started her own nonprofit and now she’s using her own money to make sure people living on the streets have the chance to stay warm this winter.

After getting out of prison, Marsha Sanders made it her mission to help those in need.

It’s why she created After the Storm Inc.

“Helping the homeless, giving whatever I had to them so that they can have. They were always more in need than I was, and my heart just hurt for them,” she said.

With the help of her friend and volunteer, CJ, who’s faced homelessness himself, she’s handing out go bags. Which CJ knows from experience are critical during cold weather.

“I didn’t have a place that I could go to get out of the weather, and in the go bag, it was very important to me to provide the emergency blanket because it was going to be so cold,” he said.

The go bags have an emergency blanket, gloves, masks, and cough drops.

Marsha also gives out coats, too.

“That go-bag is so important because whenever I was homeless, and I was getting sick chronically, I developed bronchitis from simple cold and flu,” said Mayfield.

She hopes with the help of the community, she can continue to give them out.

“We need the funds to be able to provide for them so that they can get the basic things that they need out there, and the things that they need are basic things that we have,” said Sanders.

It’s just one more resource for those in need.

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