Providing Warmth To Our Neighbors Affected By Recent Winter Weather

February 18, 2021April 12, 2021 News

Millions of children and adults across our country are struggling to stay warm in record-breaking frigid temperatures. Our hearts are with them and our nonprofit partners who are on the ground providing emergency services.

You can help provide warmth:

• Donate funds to One Warm Coat – every $1 donated warms 1 person
• Register to hold a coat drive and share immediate warmth in your community 
• Visit our Nonprofit Locator Map to find an agency in one of the areas affected by winter weather and send your clean, wearable coat donations directly to them

“The quickest way to make a difference is to donate a new or gently worn coat through a coat drive,” said Beth W. Amodio, One Warm Coat’s president and chief executive officer. “There’s also still time this winter season to register to hold a coat drive to make an immediate impact on the lives of children and adults in your community,”

Additionally, One Warm Coat is partnering with Eddie Bauer stores across the US and Canada to collect new and gently worn coats through April. Customers who bring coat donations to their local store will receive $10 off a same-day, in-store outerwear purchase.

Active coat drives, including Eddie Bauer locations, can be found by visiting One Warm Coat’s interactive coat drive map. For those interested in hosting a coat drive, One Warm Coat provides all of the resources necessary to register, promote, and manage drives — and partners with nonprofits in communities across the country to ensure every coat that’s collected is delivered to someone in need. One Warm Coat is providing social distancing and safety tips to ensure everyone involved in the Coat Drive Program can participate safely.

The need couldn’t be greater. Because of the economic crisis created by COVID-19, demand for coats in most communities is up 30-50 percent compared with last year at this time. Meanwhile, One Warm Coat is experiencing a 60 percent decrease in the number of registered coat drives.

The result: A shortage of warm winter coats at a time when an estimated 30 million Americans are unemployed and more than 1 in 8 American households are living in poverty. 

 One Warm Coat, which distributed more than 500,000 free coats to children and adults in need in the 2019-20 winter season, relies on volunteer-led drives to collect coats, which it then distributes through partnerships with local nonprofits. Workplaces and schools are often major contributors — but because of COVID-19, many companies and schools have been unable to host drives this year.

For those who want to help but are unable to collect coats, making a financial contribution tot One Warm Coat is another way to make a life-changing impact. Every $1 donated warms 1 person.