Monfredo: The Spirit Of Christmas Lives In ”Coats For Kids” Project
Sunday, December 25, 2016
The project known as “Coats for Kids” raised a total of $24, 436 students and every dollar went to providing warm outerwear for students in need. A request of 2,333 in need of assistance was sent to Mrs. Vecchio and all requests were fulfilled thanks to an army of forty-one volunteers who assisted at the fundraisers, shopped for the coats, hats, and gloves and worked on preparing the coats for delivery, the goal was met! The requests for outerwear came from 30 elementary schools, Head Start, Worcester Family Partnership, McKinney-Vento (homeless shelters), and WTHS preschool program. Included in the outerwear were 890 sweatshirts at the secondary level. In addition, quantities of winter outerwear were provided to the Parent Information Center to have on hand for needy families mostly arriving from other countries.
Mrs. Vecchio stated that there were many community agencies that either purchased coats or donated funds to make the project a success. The district recognizes the following:
- Hanover Insurance Group Foundation – 200 coats and a $4,000.00 donation
- Worcester Rehabilitation and Health Care Center – 12 coats
- Shrewsbury Public Schools - Spring Street School 4th grade classes – 7 coats
- A.I.M. Mutual Insurance Companies – 1 coat
- UMass Medical School Family Medicine – 56 coats
- Buyer Ads – 6 coats
- Worcester Juvenile Court – 3 coats
- UMass Medical Center – Anesthesiology Department – 12 coats
- UMass Medical Out Patient Department – 22 coats and a $630.00 donation
- EMC-Dell hosted a Coat Drive to benefit Coats of Kids – 58 coats
- IATSE Local 98 – $200.00
- Henry Harris Trust, City of Worcester through City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. – $500.00
- International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers – $200.00
- Ocean State Job Lot – 10% off coat shopping
- Leominster Credit Union - $300.00
The event was an eye-opening experience for many and Chris Reidy, a 10th grade student at Doherty High who assisted in the mission as part of his Eagle Scout Badge project for the Boys Scouts stated, “The thing that I found most impressive was the impact created by “Coats for Kids”. The amount of kids in need and those needs being met is a crazy amount, but knowing how positively this will impact not only their winters, but also their lives, is unbelievable. Knowing this work is really going to help kids in Worcester has been what stands out most to me and made all of the work worthwhile.” Through Chris’s pancake breakfast fundraiser, $1,076 was raised. Most importantly by his statement a lesson of giving back to his community has impacted his life.
Liz Vecchio, “Coats for Kids” coordinator, perhaps summed up the success of the program best, "I was amazed and overwhelmed by the generosity of individuals, businesses and community organizations, not only from Worcester but surrounding cities and towns. Their generously contributed to making Coats for Kids such a huge success and enabling us to assist almost 2,500 children in need!"
As we celebrate the holiday this weekend let’s remember this wonderful act of kindness taking place within the community. Congratulations to all who made a difference in the lives of so many children.
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