One man helps Denver's homeless in a special way

Inside Ken Cole's dining room there isn't anywhere to actually eat.

"[I have] fleece blankets, jackets, socks, hand warmers," he said, going through the donations that fill the room.

Cole moved to Denver from Hawaii last year and immediately saw a need to help the homeless population -- by putting into practice some of the customs he brought from the islands he came from.

"I'm a single parent working a couple [of] jobs just trying to stay afloat. There's always something you can give, always something you can do," he told Denver7.

Every Saturday and sometimes on weekdays, Cole and a group of friends take donations of clothes, food, and coffee out to the homeless in downtown Denver.

But this is much more than a donation.

"We bring everything over and create a space. And it's not just grab a blanket, but grab a blanket and talk to someone," Cole said. "Grab a blanket and have someone ready and available to just ask them how they're doing."

The response can be overwhelming, even for Ken.

"To have a grown man in your arms balling because he missed his kids and his family and his life from before [is really difficult]. Family and friends ask, 'Why do you go out on Saturdays and do this? [During] your only day of the week off?' And it's [all for] that [contact with the homeless population]," he said.

Now, Cole is raising money to expand his one-man mission through the use of a box truck.

"We want to have a mobile donation center where we can literally bring the things they need to them. Show up, open the door, drop the ramp, and allow them to come up and look for the hand warmers, the socks, the blankets, the jackets, the things they need," Cole said.

Read more about the project here. To donate to the mobile donation center effort click here.