Happy Anniversary, One Warm Coat & Burlington Coat Factory!

Yesterday, the Warm Coats + Warm Hearts campaign kicked off its fabulous 4th season with us! This year, the  Burlington Coat Factory drive goes from October 29th through January 17th. Here's to you, Burlington Coat Factory, for four fantastic seasons of great work warming lives and hearts in communities across the country! You're awesome! 

Let's Be Friends!

The inability to find a simple ball-inflating needle near home inspired the first City Sports sporting goods store. 17 stores and 27 years later, City Sports solves many greater challenges in their communities. This year, they’re offering a doubly-great way to contribute to One Warm Coat’s efforts. Added to the coats they collect in their drives, they will also donate $1 for each person who becomes a City Sports Facebook Friend during November! Warm coats and the extra resources to ship materials to our organizers? We say, “Let’s be friends!”

Modern Family's Rico Rodriguez Stars For 1 Warm Kid!

The young star of TV's Modern Family, Rico Rodriguez, recently starred in a You Tube video for the 1 Warm Kid campaign sponsored by P.S. for Aeropostale and One Warm Coat. In it, he decides whether to donate a favorite coat. Now, that’s one warm kid! (And his sister Raini’s pretty amazing, too!)

The Feeling Is Mutual!

Don Harris founded One Way Every Day to shine a light on organizations that offer people opportunities for service. His blog shows us all that a “small” help, performed by many, can have a HUGE impact! We’re so proud to have been featured on One Way Every Day – and very proud to return the favor today. We’re with you, Don. Let's make a difference together!

The Right Thing to Do

In our October newsletter, we asked readers to tell us about a time they gave a coat to someone in need. Debra Biondolillo of the Benton Franklin Community Action Committee, Pasco, WA sent us the "tale" of her first coat donation. She was in downtown Portland with a ministry team when she felt “impressed to give my coat away.” Others were concerned about her impulse to “jump out of the car and run up to the woman on the steps that had no coat...But, it was the right thing to do. I would get another coat.” Debra concluded with “I will never know what this really did for her (the woman). My hope is that it “spoke” to her and changed her life.” We loved reading this tale of spontaneous generosity. Thanks for sharing, Debra! (Have a coat donation tale of your own to tell? Contact Sybil@onewarmcoat.org.)

Have the Sweetest Day!

Sweetest Day is celebrated mostly in the Great Lakes and Northeast, but this year we’re celebrating it across the U.S. Some say that this special day is about spreading cheer to those who are less fortunate. To others, it’s the day to appreciate those whose kindness we’ve enjoyed.

So, to all of you who join us in providing any person in need with a coat free of charge (and spreading cheer and kindness), we say "Have the Sweetest day!"

Extreme Summer Impacts Fall and Winter

Brush fires, floods and hurricane winds destroy a home’s walls – and everything in it. During the heat of this past summer, while first responders provided immediate aid, we thought of the need to replace the cold weather gear that was lost. Looks like many others were thinking, too: over 450 coat drives have been set up to make it a warm fall and winter for all!

A Day and a Knight

Next Monday's Columbus Day holiday is an ideal time to tell you about Ed Collins of the Padre Pio Council of Knights of Columbus, Hammonton, NJ. Ed has just signed up to organize coat drives for his fourth year in a row! For 2010, he and his team are coordinating multiple councils in the South Jersey area and partnering with area schools "to make sure as many as possible are helped and kept warm." We’re very happy to have Ed and his team of Knights working to get an early start on helping their neighbors in need.

P.S. Meet One Warm Kid!

PSssst! There's big news at P.S. from Aeropostale. Introducing the "birth" of 1 Warm Kid!

Between October 11 and October 31, P.S. from Aeropostale stores are hosting a campaign to help kids in need and raise awareness of the growing number of families living in poverty. Click here to learn more and sign up!