Warm Up With Us and Join the Drive!

"Warm up with us...!" With those words, officer Jessica Mercer of the Prince Georges County District V COPS Unit invited schools and agencies to create a super team to hold an area One Warm Coat drive. So many groups joined the project that Jessica had to contact Larinda for more banner and label packets! She wrote, "I am proud to share that... I am in need of an additional 20 packets as the rest of my participants come aboard. ...They are flying off the shelf!" We're proud of Jessica, too! With her warm invitation and obvious commitment, she's made loads of new friends in her community and is well on her way to making a big difference for those in need.

Bunker Hill Publishing: Helping Us Help Others

Bunker Hill Publishing is excited about their new book, "Helping Santa: My First Christmas Adventure with Grandma," and so are we! This familiar yet timeless tale perfectly depicts the spirit of caring that inspires generation after generation to help others. Check out their blog to learn more. (We especially appreciate the part that tells about their sharing a portion of the book's sales with One Warm Coat!) Thank you, Bunker Hill Publishing, for helping us get out the message that no one should go without a warm coat this winter.

A Place to Tell YOUR One Warm Coat Story!

We love reading notes & comments from our volunteer organizers & agencies! Here's another place where you can share YOUR experiences and help others discover One Warm Coat.  GreatNonProfits is a site where experienced volunteers help other people learn about trustworthy nonprofits that are making a difference. During April, they're encouraging people to post reviews and ratings regarding Children & Family nonprofit activities. Did your family, school, scout troop or youth group donate coats or hold a coat drive? Then, YOU are a perfect reviewer! Just click HERE to start & then click Write a Review. (Thank you for helping us tell others how easy it is to make a difference. Can't wait to read your posts!)

Schools That ROCK!

"Each principal wanted to know if we would do this again next year!" writes Cathy J. of Garden Grove, CA. Cathy's Girl Scout Troop 1224 took their Bronze Award project to SIX individual area schools this year. They worked with school administrators in each location to build the local network necessary to support their coat drive on a grand scale. Together, Patton Elementary, St. Paul's Lutheran, Garden Park Elementary, Barker Elementary, Enders Elementary and Ralston Intermediate schools "rocked" the coat drive process so well that they reached their collection goal and more! Thanks, Cathy, for sharing this story of the kids' success. Garden Grove's motto is "The City of Youth and Ambition!" Now we know WHY!

Mt. Olive Recreation Does the Math, Warms Its Community!

When Jill D. of the Mt. Olive Township Recreation center (NJ) shared the results of their recent coat drive, it was clear that they are whizzes at math! Jill explained the equation behind their fantastic success: You start with volunteer staff and PTAs from 6 area schools; add local religious and sports booster groups and subtotal. Divide volunteers across 15 locations, including Senior Center, library and 3 PNC bank branches. Then multiple your "reach" with a benefit event! The product? Exponential warmth for those in need! Congratulations - and thanks for making the math so easy!

Girl Scouts: Helping Others and Inspiring US!

Girl Scout Day is Saturday! As a Life Member of Girl Scouts, I am very proud of the support that One Warm Coat enjoys with the thousands of girls and their leaders and families across the U.S. who work to "help people at all times." Today, I recall talking with the Girl Guide whom I met last fall. We talked in awe of the time she met with Lady Baden Powell many years ago. 

This amazing woman attended the coat drive with her Girl Scout granddaughter -- it was their way of carrying on the joyful community-centered work that has made a difference for hundreds of thousands of people for almost a hundred years! Smile with us this Saturday (March 12th) as we honor the compassion and commitment of Girl Scouts everywhere!

Warming Communities - One great FAMILY at a time!

Niklas J recently sent this heart-warming note: "Here are some pictures from the coat drive I did at my school. I made copies of these little coats and let the kids color them and decorate my board. I had a great time and enjoyed helping my community." His mom, Laura, shared "I was happy we found your website with all your wonderful tools...We both found how easy it is to help the community and plan to do much more in the future."  

Niklas, thank you for sharing pictures of the AWESOME way you got other kids involved in collecting coats! And, Laura, thanks for the feedback on our tools! We put them online especially to help dedicated, busy families like yours collect and distribute warm coats with ease. From our One Warm Coat "family" to yours: great job - and thanks for sharing your story!

Disney Stars Madison, Mickey and Minnie Donate Coats!

Good Morning America was the "happiest place on earth" recently! Disney stars Madison Pettis and Mickey and Minnie brought loads of warm coats to add to our giant donation box! Thank you, Disney friends and Warm Coats & Warm Hearts for helping us collect over 200,000 coats during this important drive. (Help us spread the warmth! YOU and your friends can donate coats at an area Burlington Coat Factory store through Sunday, February 13th and make YOUR town one of the happiest places on earth! )

The Gift of Giving

Gifts to Give in MA answers the question, "what if there were a place where kids could experience - through their doing - the power of giving and service?" This amazing agency offers area students a full service-training program based in sound business principles and led by community business leaders. For many years, their winter projects have included the collection and distribution of warm coats. Thank you, Gifts to Give, for sharing your gifts with One Warm Coat and the SouthCoast communities year after year!  

Hooray for Youthful Organizing!

Our young partners are unstoppable! Yesterday, our Warm Coats & Warm Hearts co-sponsor Good Morning America accepted over 500 coats from the youngsters participating in youth hockey. We've also learned about an organizer in Brookfield, WI whose coat drive is being held during a youth basketball tourney this coming weekend. And the Aware club at Silver Creek HS is helping us "go viral" with a "get out the vote" campaign focused on the USA TODAY ad contest! We're so pleased to be part of the community service work done by these young partners and their adult mentors. Thank you for lending your youthful energy and spirit to this very important cause!

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!)

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.

"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+!”

Scouts' Honor

“On my honor, I will ...” That’s often the start of a pledge made by Brownies,  Girl Scouts and many other young people who join service organizations to help others. Leaders Patty Scipioni and Alicia Freeman-Nield are very proud of Bethlehem, PA Daisies and Brownies of troops 846 and 8276. Their Fall coat drive grew and grew until it finally included the whole Miller Heights Elementary School community! Patty shares that each Girl Scout brought a quarter to donate, too, as part of the drive’s closing ceremony. The quarter signifies this lesson: One person’s contribution may not “have much power on its own,” but all our contributions together can make a real difference. We’re thrilled that youth organizations like this one join with us each year to make the winter warmer in their home communities. Congratulations, Troops 846 and 8276! Great job!

1 Warm Kid Shares Its Success!

The very first 1 Warm Kid campaign by P.S. for Aeropostale was a fantastic success! The team reports that 329 schools participated! Check out our pic of TV star Francia Raisa delivering coats to Graham Wyndham Beacon Middle School in the Bronx, NY. Then, go to  1 Warm Kid's photo gallery  to see more kids and celebs who worked so hard provide warmth to young people and their families this winter. Great job! We give you all an A+!

Are YOU on the "tube?"

Seems like it was only yesterday that we first enjoyed this KooDooZ video, featuring 9-year old Addison Graham speaking from the heart about the need for warm coats. Do you have coat drive photos – or even a video? We’d LOVE to share them here and in our You Tube collection! Send photos or links to Sybil, so we can show them to our 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!)

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!"

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!

Way to go Megan!

Like many of you, Megan Koebert started off wanting to help others in her community.  She hosted a "family and friends" coat drive and then found that more people had coats to donate.  Her idea blossomed into a larger community coat drive when two local businesses -- Intercommunity Action of Philadlephia and Burlington Dodge -- offered their sites as drop off locations.
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A wonderful collection of 92 coats were shared with the Sisterhood Family Crisis Center in Burlington, New Jersey.