THANK YOU for helping us reach our goal again this year of collecting & cleaning 10,000 coats for our Coats for Kids drive! Thank you to our sponsors Alerus Center, FlyOver America, WCCO Radio, Sun Sailor, KARE 11 & our charity partners & schools for helping us distribute the coats directly to people in need!
We received an incredible letter from Park Ave charity that we wanted to share because it really helps express the impact that this drive has on our community:
“The extra adult coats we took out yesterday and distributed to homeless people in South Minneapolis. We gave away almost 50 coats in less than 90 minutes. The need for coats, hats, mittens, etc is so great, it is heartbreaking.
We gave a coat to one young man (early 20s) who was homeless because he had a stroke and became disabled and as a result lost his job. He was wearing just a short-sleeved shirt. I had to help him get his coat on and zipped because his left arm was paralyzed.
We ran into another young man who was riding a bike and pulling a little cart. We stopped him and asked if he needed a coat. He said yes, and then took the coat and wrapped it around a little girl that was in the cart he was pulling. He refused to take a coat for himself in case there was someone else who needed it more.
We talked to an older gentleman who was Native American. He was also a veteran. He asked us why we were doing what we were doing. We told him because we cared about him and everyone deserved to be warm. His eyes welled up with tears and he thanked us over and over for bringing the coats. Imagine….a Native American Veteran….homeless on his native land after serving this country….still so grateful to receive a coat to keep him warm. It just doesn’t seem right.
I know the amount of work that you put into this coat distribution every year takes many hours and is very stressful, but if you have ever wondered if it is really worth it, or if it really makes a difference, rest assured, it does….it really does. For some of these people the coats we gave them were literally the difference between freezing to death or not in the streets last night.
So from the bottom of our hearts….thank you!!
Michelle Higgins
Office Administrator
Park Avenue UMC”
**Thank you to the rest of our 2019 charities & schools who helped us distribute the coats as well:
Loveworks Academy
Urban Academy Charter School
Normandale Housing Ministry
Ronald McDonald House Charities- Upper Midwest
Frost Lake Elementary
Park Avenue Youth & Family Services
MNIC
Battle Creek Middle School
Sharing and Caring Hands
Supplementary Angles of Community Services
Western Communities Action Network
St. Louis Park Emergency Program
Our Saviour’s Housing
Ronald McDonald House Charities, Upper Midwest
Reach Up Head Start/Early Head Start
Open Door Learning Center–Arlington Hills
Hamline Elementary
Missions Inc. Programs
Sharing and Caring Hands
Children’s Defense Fund Minnesota
Mpls Public Schools
Closet of Hope
Ebenezer’s SDA Church Mpls
St Paul Public Schools
Shakopee Community Assistance
Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota – Refugee Services
Friendship Academy of the Arts
Anoka-Hennepin Schools
People Serving People
St. Louis Park Emergency Program
Ramsey Middle School
Mount Olivet of Plymouth for Northport Elementary
Good in the ‘Hood
Columbia Heights Public Schools
Northeast Middle School – MPS
Church inc
CEAP (Community Emergency Assistance Programs)
Pillsbury Elementary School
Children’s hospital
Prodeo Academy
Warm Coats for Cool Kids
Ebenezer’s SDA Church Mplsssistance Programs)
Avenues for Homeless Youth
