Our Club to Provide New Winter Coats to Children in Need
Shorter days and a chill in the air are sure signs that cold winter days will soon be here. Unfortunately, not everyone will be ready for its arrival. With poverty reaching an all-time high in the U.S., more children than ever are at risk of not having proper winter clothing, meaning they sometimes may need to stay home from school.
For its third year, our club will again provide new winter coats to area children living in households with limited financial resources. These coats will allow children to go to school with pride and ready to learn on cold Chicago winter days.
The club will provide new coats to Youth Services of Glenview/Northbrook for its annual Holiday Gift program which provides gifts to children from 500 local low income families each December. In recent years, this program has provided over 700 children with new winter coats- one of the most frequently requested gifts. Members of the club will also participate as volunteer gift wrappers in mid to late December, when thousands of gifts are individually wrapped and made ready to make for a happy holiday in hundreds of households who would otherwise go wanting. The club will also provide coats to Between Friends, a Chicago agency serving families victimized by domestic violence. Between Friends serves many families in crisis who have suddenly lost access to financial resources. It is especially valuable for these children to feel the sense of pride that comes from receiving a new coat of their own during their unsettling time in crisis. The club will acquire high quality new coats from Operation Warm; a Rotarian founded non-profit company focused on providing new winter coats to children throughout the U.S. This year, 200,000 children will receive Operation Warm coats; bringing the total to 1 million children served since their start in 1998. Operation Warm makes coats available to service organizations and groups, schools and non-profits serving the poor at wholesale like pricing. The club is accepting donations from local citizens and businesses who would like to help. Each $20 donation provides a child in need with a new winter coat. Tax deductible donations may be sent to Winnetka-Northfield Rotary Charitable Foundation, 620 Lincoln Avenue, Winnetka IL 60093, or via PayPal by clicking here.  The Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield meets Thursdays from 12:15 to 1:30 at the Winnetka Community House for lunch and a speaker. Membership is open to service oriented residents and workers of the area. Guests are welcome to attend. |
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Another Way to Help In addition to making tax deductible donations, those interested in helping provide more winter coats to local kids living in need can sign up for Plum District, a daily deal website that connects busy North Shore moms with daily deals and inspirations from local businesses. For each new subscriber, Plum District will donate $3 toward the Winnetka-Northfield Rotary new winter coats for kids project.  Plum District will donate $3 to our charitable foundation for our coats for kids project for each new subscription using this link. Thanks for helping, and please pass this on to friends and family.  |