Education Alliance AmeriCorps surpasses goal to provide 500 donations
WV Press Release Sharing
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – At this time of year, often our thoughts can turn to the beautiful winter wonderland outside. That’s not the case for many children who face bitter cold around the state. This year, in honor of MLK Day of Service, Education Alliance AmeriCorps coordinated a coat drive called Coats4Kids from Jan. 9 to 23, 2023.
This year’s Coat4Kids drive is the third annual coat drive organized by the Education Alliance. “When everyone is brought in on the same goal, it goes further than you’d expect.” said Education Alliance AmeriCorps Mentor, Khalik Davis. “The coats that we give are something that kids can call their own.”
The Coats4Kids drive collected 2004 articles of winter clothing to help West Virginia families stay warm. There were 38 drop-off locations around the state where area residents made a difference in their local community by donating new and gently used coats, hats, scarves, and gloves. Donations were provided to 17 schools and 9 nonprofits across the state.
“The Education Alliance is and always will be an organization that mobilizes business and communities to support our youth,” said Dr. Amelia Courts, the President/CEO of the Education Alliance, “the Coats4Kids drive is a perfect example of what can be accomplished in West Virginia when we foster a partnership between business and community.”
The Coats4Kids drive is part of a national effort through One Warm Coat. Last year, more than 7.3 million coats were distributed across North America to children and adults in need through One Warm Coat’s Coat Drive program. Over 43,000 coat drives were held across the country, with the Education Alliance’s Coats4Kids drive paving the way for West Virginia.
For more information about the Coats4Kids drive, visit educationalliance.org/coats4kids.
# # #
About The Education Alliance
Founded in July 1983 as the first statewide public education fund in the nation, The Education Alliance is a private-sector initiative to help businesses understand the importance of financially and resourcefully supporting the state’s public schools and to give business a voice in public education that advances policies and practices to continually improve public school student achievement in West Virginia. For more information, visit educationalliance.org.
About AmeriCorps
The MLK Day of Service is led by AmeriCorps, a federal agency that engages millions of Americans in service through its AmeriCorps and Senior Corps programs and leads the nation’s volunteer efforts. For more information, visit nationalservice.gov.
About One Warm Coat
One Warm Coat is a national nonprofit organization that provides free coats to anyone in need, without discrimination, and works to create awareness of the vital need for warm coats across the country. Through the Coat Drive Program, One Warm Coat provides tools and resources to empower volunteer-led and sponsored coat drives to collect coats, and partners with nonprofit agencies and schools across all 50 states to distribute those coats to children and adults in need. For more information, visit onewarmcoat.org.
