Left to Right: Mike Snyder, Loretta Arnold from Coats for Kids, Bill Wills and Amanda Akin from Discount Drug Mart. Photo by Scott Reese / iHeartMedia
Discount Drug Mart presented a check to “Coats for Kids” for $37,095 on Thursday through the sale of $1 paper coats. Customers who bought a coat also received a $1 coupon for Energizer batteries.
In 1981, local radio station employees became aware of a large number of children missing school in the winter because they did not have warm coats. That November, Coats for Kids – Cleveland was founded when the radio station began soliciting donations of new or like-new winter coats. That first campaign filled the studio, and subsequent campaigns brought in even more coats, along with monetary donations used to purchase new coats. Since then, millions of dollars have been raised and hundreds of thousands of new and like-new coats have been distributed to children in need in northeast Ohio.
Coats for Kids conducts an annual collection campaign of new and like-new winter coats in all sizes – infant to adult. Each year, from November thru early January, collection bins are in place at area malls, other local businesses accept coat donations, and area organizations conduct coat collection campaigns. The need to keep area children warm, however, is still great. Coat and monetary donations are always needed, and without your ongoing support, Coats for Kids would not exist.