The Momentum is Growing!

We recently received this heartwarming note from Eleanor from the Native American Children's Association. "Just the other day, my sister and I were on the Reservation observing... [an] annual celebration to honor a revered Chief. ...It was crowded with Native families who remembered us from the coat giveaway. ...We are writing to express our gratitude for your hard work. Your efforts are helping a new generation of gifted young people to succeed." As the temperatures dip across the country, we are mindful of the children waiting for school buses in only light sweaters or hoodies. Although the need is great, the momentum for coat drives is growing. Today, over 400 coat drives are registered in our system, and more sign up each day. Soon, thousands of us will be working together to warm communities...one coat, one child, one person in need...at a time.

Your Vote = Warm Coats!

There's one more week of open, daily voting in the Tom's of Maine 50 States for Good competition. (Click our widget to learn more - and vote.) With YOUR help, (and that of your friends & family) One Warm Coat could win part of the $150,000 award! Won't you join us in voting daily through 9/13? (Thank you!)

Doing Your Agency's Annual Report?

Nancy L. was reporting on her Agency's annual activities. Last winter, many new people asked for warm coats, but the Agency hadn't had enough to meet the need. Checking their  One Warm Coat listing, Nancy noticed that her contact information, needs, operating hours all needed updating! 

This is exactly why we are conducting our " Stay in Touch" email update campaign to all our agency partners in May. Agencies in our database will receive a personalized email from OWC with a direct link to update and edit  their contact information. 


Now, as she shifts to summer activities, she can "close the books" on winter & One Warm Coat. We, too, are turning our focus to warm weather projects. , be sure to open Doug Selee's emails and update YOUR Agency's information! And please meet us HERE again in August for another year of warming communities... one coat at a time!

Best Time to Get Creative!

Last week, warnings of still more heavy rains or “a foot of snow” were common from CA to MA. Here’s an idea to make use of the frustration we all feel when winter just won’t quit. The moment after you’ve finished yet another snow person or stepped over that deep puddle next to your car – when you’ve come inside and taken off YOUR warm coat – is actually a great time to commit to holding a future event to collect coats for others. Why not check out One Warm Coat's website for ideas? Some extra-creative organizers have held warm weather drives as part of a child's birthday party or special family gathering. We bet you know just the right occasion for your own. (In the meantime, to help us all get through this last bit of winter, enjoy this giant sculpture named for a Senator whose last name is Snow!)

Holding Our International Neighbors In Our Thoughts

Today, news reports from Japan remind us that harsh conditions can impact us all without notice. As I watch the news, I am taken with the dignity, discipline and spirit of sharing among the Japanese people. It is a spirit we discovered last fall, when the dedicated employees of Delta Airlines Naruta office held our first Japanese coat drive.

Now, many international aid agencies - in the U.S. and elsewhere - have sprung into action to deliver critical supplies to those in need. The American Red Cross is equipped to handle donations from the United States to support relief activities in Japan.

Once again, we are reminded that the world is, really, one community - and our thoughts are with our neighbors enduring hardship across the globe.

Clearing the Path to Warmth

As we dream of Spring, reports of significant snowfalls and extreme temperatures from CA to CT tell us that the work we do together at One Warm Coat remains important. Hundreds of coat drives are still “open for business,” clearing the way to health and comfort for neighbors in communities from coast to coast. Got a coat to donate? Click here and find a drive in your area.

Warming Hearts, Warming Lives!

Professor Patricia Halpin and her students are merging science with community service to make a big difference in NH this winter! Through the UNH Manchester’s Diversity of Life course and Warmth From the Millyard program, students learn that a body temperature reduction of only 1 or 2 degrees leads to disorientation, lowered reaction times and dangerous hypothermia. They also learn how to solve the problem. (With warm coats, of course!) Thank you, UNH Manchester, for bringing together the science of warmth and community service in an engaging and educational way! You’ve earned an A+ in our book! (P.S. We LIKE them on Facebook. We think you will, too!)

Be Our Valentine!

One legend says that the original Valentine was a caring man who wrote warm words of encouragement on small notes and gave them to those in great need. Why not let your donated coat speak for you this V-day? As everyone knows, a warm coat is "worth a thousand words" (and much more) on a cold winter's day!

Advance Planning Meets Extreme Need

If you have extra time to read this today, it may be because your employer or school declared a "snow day." It's a great time to tell you about the warm-hearted and wise folks at Crutchfield, whose experience with last winter's severe weather led them to hold their workplace coat drive earlier this time. Tommy Kinstle shared the secrets to their drive's success: working "with a lot of caring people" AND doing some serious advance planning! Our hearts are warm today, thinking of the Crutchfield team in VA and all our coat drive organizers whose continued commitment makes extreme winter weather a little easier to bear for people in need.

Happy to be "Part of the Solution!"

Look for us on page 122 of this month's Redbook magazine! We're featured in "Be Part of the Solution," a section that offers 6 great ways to help others stay warm this winter. Thank you, Redbook, for publishing our message and showing others how easy it is to make a difference!

They Asked, "How Can I Help?"

More and more new people are reaching out after finding us on Facebook, this blog and other friends' sites. Looks like the effects of this winter's harsh weather have hit the warm spots in your hearts and you're looking for ways to help people in your communities. Whether the famous groundhog sees his shadow next week or not, one thing is sure: people will need warm coats for many months to come. If you are moved to help but don't quite know how, click One Warm Coat and link to Organize a Drive or Donate Coats. (It's so easy!) And welcome!

Thanks for your support. Have you voted today?

We send a BIG thank you to those who have supported us this far in the contest to win free ads in USA TODAY! Voting closes at midnight Wednesday. Everyone age 13 or older can vote HERE once a day - every day - 'til then. (It would be great to have YOUR votes, too!)

Keep those votes coming - and Thank You!


Over the next 4 days, YOUR VOTES can make the difference between 2nd place and our winning free ads in USA TODAY! The ads will help us reach 3.3 million readers about the need for warm coats and how easy it is to help. Voting closes Wednesday at midnight, so we ask you to VOTE HERE today and every day 'til then! (Everyone age 13 + older can vote. Tell your friends!) Thank you!

Warm Coats & Warm Hearts Drive Extended!

Burlington Coat Factory recently announced the extension of our Warm Coats & Warm Hearts coat drive campaign! With 49 of 50 U.S. states experiencing snowfall this winter, this is fantastic news! From now through February 13th, all are welcome to take a warm coat to a Burlington Coat Factory store. We thank this wonderful sponsor for recognizing the increased need for warm coats and making it possible to provide even more people with them this season! (Now, it's YOUR turn! If you haven't cleaned the extra coats out of your closet, there's still time!)

Join us for Monday's National Day of Service

Service is as simple as donating one warm coat and as vital as providing warmth. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who we honor next Monday, said, "We are tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality." We agree! On Monday, we invite you to join the national Day of Service by donating a warm coat in your community. To find a coat drive near you, click here. Then, Find a Project by entering your zip code and looking for the One Warm Coat project posting. The winter is colder than ever, and the need greater. Help us share the warmth of a good coat with someone in need.

Attentive & Warm-Hearted Bus Driver on GMA

"...That is what we're supposed to do - help each other," said Marilyn Robinson, a school bus driver in Parchment, MI. Just before winter break, Ms. Robinson noticed that six children had no warm coats. She contacted Donna Pearce of the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission, who found the resources to provide the children with warm coats, new backpacks - even a gift card for a local store. Learn more about the kids' new coats, Ms. Robinson, Ms. Pearce and how Burlington Coat Factory provides children's coats by watching Good Morning America next week. We send warm thoughts to Marilyn Robinson and all the attentive, big-hearted people like her who notice those in need in their communities and take steps to help!

One Warm Coat, One Warm Soul, One More Smile

The weather outside is frightful! Record snow, rainfall and below-normal temperatures sent most of us searching for warm coats this week. Thanks to the Warm Coats & Warm Hearts campaign, many more are able to join us. Check out a few of their stories in the campaign’s Give a Coat, Change a Life video. One young wife and mother of five, whose family received coats after an electrical fire destroyed their home, affirmed that “It’s symbolic - not just because it’s cold outside.” Theirs are the tales that warm our hearts this winter!

"I Will Take Care of It."

"I will take care of it." That’s what Chris Trudeau of the Boston St. Vincent de Paul said when we contacted him with a unique request last week. One Warm Coat friend Elaine Wheaton, on a trip to Massachusetts, had become aware that some clients of New Hope Transitional Support Services had no warm coats. So she contacted us. In turn, we contacted Chris, who arranged to get coats to New Hope ASAP. We love being able to make connections between those who see a problem and those who have the resources to solve it. And we love being friends with Elaine and Chris, whose “take care of it” nature has made the difference for those in need in Weymouth, Massachusetts this week!

"Drop Your Kid - Drop Your Coat?!" Valencia Elementary School Drive

Posted in the Valencia Elementary School’s student drop-off zone, kids in the I’m Making a Difference program collected 485 coats during their recent coat drive! It all started during a study of the lives of the area's homeless. Lillie Eiserman, their teacher, shares that the kids “were shocked to see that simple tools… meant survival to someone. We were able to collect so many coats because we had students that cared.” During the project, the kids made posters, sent flyers, got donations and stood in the drop-off space each day to gather donated coats. Congratulations, kids! We’d give this project a definite “A+!”

一暖かいコート The Need Has No Boundaries

Delta Airlines’ Force for Global Good is warming communities across the U.S. – and the globe. Delta staff at Japan’s Narita airport are exploring Japanese organizations who can distribute donated coats! Making a difference in the communities where they live and work (sound familiar?)… Now that’s an idea that can really take off!