Good Samaritans put jackets on poles, wrap scarves around trees for needy

Good Samaritans are leaving winter clothes, some homemade, in parks and other public spaces across the USA to help those in need this season.

In downtown Portland, Maine, one woman taped several jackets with notes to light poles. The note reads, "I am not lost! Please take me if you need me."

Gabby Kaper came up with the idea and took to Facebook to ask people to do the same thing.

She said she got the jackets for $1 each at the Goodwill and put them up in downtown Portland. As soon as she got back in her car, she says she saw a person who wasn't wearing many layers take a jacket.

"People are homeless, people are cold," she wrote. "Five dollars to make five people less freezing, $5 to make someone sleep a little better tonight, $5 may be very little to me but very important to another. I encourage everyone to give this a try this season."

In Lancaster, Pa., a group is decorating fences with handmade hats and scarves. Wrap Up Lancaster has been scarf-bombing both Lancaster and Columbia with a total of 155 hats and 58 scarves for November, according to the group's Facebook page.

The group hopes to continue its activity through April 2016.

Another report of a similar act of kindness popped up in Michigan in late November. A do-gooder, who remains nameless, strung scarves around light poles and trees in a park and attached winter apparel with a note that said, "I am not lost. If you are cold, wear me,"  the Bay City Times reports.

Contributing: WCSH-TV