One Warm Coat is honoring Native American Heritage Month by sharing warmth with Native American communities through a generous grant to the Crisis Coat Fund from UnitedHealthcare.

The Crisis Coat Fund enables One Warm Coat to purchase coats in bulk amounts, at a significantly discounted rate, and ship them directly to nonprofit partners in underserved or remote communities where the Coat Drive Program cannot fulfill the demand for coats.

With the funds donated from UnitedHealthcare, One Warm Coat purchased 1,640 coats and shipped them to three of our nonprofit partners: American Indian Education in St. Paul, MN; Thoreau Navajo Outreach in Thoreau, NM; and Native American Children’s Association in Red Lodge, MT. 

Eleanor from the Native American Children’s Association wrote “In America’s isolated, impoverished Native American Reservations, the poverty rates are terribly high, third world conditions often prevail, with homes lacking running water and adequate heat and parents are often unable to afford to pay their electric bills. Many children go to bed hungry and often have no warm coats in which to wait for school buses on mornings when winter temperatures routinely dip to -35 degrees. During the long, cruel winters in Montana, icy winds can keep children home from school when they do not have the necessary warm clothing. Nothing can describe the feeling of receiving thank you notes from reservation children, who wrote to tell how grateful they are because now, with their new coats, they have something cozy to sleep in at night and they will be warm! THANK YOU again for all you have done!”

Francisca from American Indian Education shared, “Every year we have several students and families in need of warm jackets for the winter months. It was such a wonderful surprise to have such a large donation from One Warm Coat and United Healthcare! Our families are truly thankful from the bottom of all our hearts. We shared the donation with two other schools that have a coat closet in the schools. The coat closets are donated jackets that children can borrow when they don’t have a warm coat, so they can go outside and play during recess. Each one of them was truly grateful to receive them. Chii-Mii-Gwetch! (Thank you!)”

Thank you to UnitedHealthcare for working with One Warm Coat to share warmth with people in need! 

For information about making a donation to the Crisis Coat Fund, please contact Patti Zappa.