nbc's kris jansing has the story. >> reporter: like an old-fashioned quilting bee, groups of volunteers turning out handmade sleeping bags for people they've never even met. to understand why, you have to travel to hot bottom, pennsylvania, and to flo wheatley's kitchen. she can look at her now grown son and 30 years melts away. back to when leonard was just 14, fighting cancer, sick, exhausted, and caught post chemo in a new york city downpour. >> and we got to the subway and it was still raining. but he was extremely weak. so i propped him up on one of the suitcases and i heard somebody behind me say, lady, you need help. >> reporter: it was a homeless man who carried their suitcases, helped them get to a friend's house and left them with a message. >> he looked straight at me and he said, "don't abandon me." >> reporter: after seeing another homeless man shivering in a tattered blanket, flo had the idea of recycling used clothes, sewing them into simple warm sleeping bags. and delivering them to the needy, whenever the weather turns cold. >> our motto is to keep someone alive tonight