Nearly 50 million Americans are currently living in poverty.  For these families and individuals, a warm coat is a budget extra they simply cannot afford. St. Paul’s Day School in Westfield invites area residents to make a difference in neighbor’s lives by donating coats and dollars during our upcoming coat drive!

Chatham High School Key Club is working with One Warm Coat to collect clean, gently used warm coats, and dollars to support the coat drive program until Dec. 22 between 7:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the CHS main lobby. Drop off extra coats and Chatham High School Key Club takes care of the rest. All donated coats will be given to a local agency for distribution to local children and adults in need.  For those who do not have a coat to donate, help provide a warmer winter by texting “WARM” to 80100 to donate $10 to One Warm Coat or by visiting www.onewarmcoat.org/donate.

“For more than 20 years we have been working to provide a warm coat to anyone who needs one,” said Jennifer Stockard, president and chief executive officer of One Warm Coat. “We are so thankful for our many coat drive ambassadors, like Chatham High School Key Club, who volunteer their time, resources and energy to help their neighbors in need.  Together, we can reach our goal of warming one million people each winter, one community at a time!”

One Warm Coat is a national non-profit organization that works to provide a free, warm coat to any person in need and raises awareness of the vital need for warm coats.  One Warm Coat supports individuals, groups, companies and organizations across the country by providing the tools and resources needed to hold a successful coat drive.  Coats are distributed in the communities where they were collected, to any person in need, without charge, discrimination or obligation. Since its inception in 1992, One Warm Coat has worked with its volunteers to give away over 4 million coats.