New York Cares 30th Annual Coat Drive Collects More Than 106,000 Coats To Provide Warmth To NYC’s Rising Homeless Population
Special Focus to Assist Students in Temporary Housing within NYC Community School System
New York Cares, the largest volunteer network in New York City, today announced that it has collected 106,000 warm winter coats as part of its 30th Annual Coat Drive, which marks the distribution of more than two million coats to date. With a special emphasis this year on supporting the rising number of NYC Community School students living in temporary housing, New York Cares ensured these students and families received 10,000 coats. With critical support from its partner organizations and the generosity of corporate and individual donors, New York Cares provided warmth to some of the city’s most vulnerable populations in public schools, housing shelters, community centers, and social service agencies.
“It’s more crucial than ever for us to bring attention to and provide the necessary support to our fellow New Yorkers who need it. In particular, far too many NYC students – one in every ten – will spend the night in a homeless shelter or a relative’s home tonight, and this must be remedied,” said Executive Director of New York Cares Gary Bagley. “In honor of the 30th year of the Coat Drive and in response to this dire need, New York Cares was keen on providing additional support to these students and their families. By providing them with warmth, something a lot of us take for granted, they are better able to navigate the cold streets to get to school or each day, which will ultimately lead them to a brighter future.”
For the first time ever, New York Cares implemented two pop-up locations for the 30th Annual Coat Drive, where New Yorkers had the chance to drop off new or gently used coats in person and take a closer look at how their donation helps those in need this winter. These pop-up shops in Lincoln Square and Union Square were made possible by in-kind sponsors, Our Man in Havana, Breakthrough Productions, CS Hudson, FASTSIGNS of Upper Saddle River, Gould Investors L.P., and Milford Management. All coats donated to this year’s pop-up shops – over 1,200 in total – went to individuals at the Bowery Mission.
Also new this year, New York Cares piloted a program with HELPSY, a company on a mission to keep clothes out of the trash, to ensure immediate coat delivery to high-need organizations in need of more than 300 coats.
The 30th Annual New York Cares Coat Drive was made possible by Bloomberg Philanthropies, PJT Partners, Ehrenkranz Partners, Bank of America, Sidley, The Amine Family, Delta, Samlyn Capital, and the Mets Foundation.
For the last 30 years, New York Cares has enabled hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers perform acts of warmth – small seemingly simple good deeds that in fact, yield a massive impact.
About the 30th Annual New York Cares Coat Drive
The New York Cares Coat Drive is one of the largest of its kind in the United States. Since 1989, New York Cares has collected and distributed more than 2 million coats, with 104,164 collected in 2017. The thousands of donated coats will be counted, sorted and distributed to organizations serving the homeless and other low-income New Yorkers, at an 8,600 square foot temporary warehouse space, generously donated by Vornado Realty Trust, located at 157 West 31st Street in Midtown Manhattan.
About New York Cares
New York Cares is the largest volunteer network in the city. Last year, 52,000 New Yorkers made the city a better place by volunteering in New York Cares programs at more than 1,100 nonprofits and schools – improving education, meeting immediate needs, and revitalizing public spaces. For more information, visit newyorkcares.org.
Published by My Social Good News, written by Api Podder.